Part of what makes the Amana Project and the other lighthouse initiatives ambitious is the determination to weave equity throughout the work, both in terms of improving school meals with nutritious locally grown food, and giving smallholder farmers an equal say in designing and implementing change, Raimond noted.
Marcelo Cwerner discusses the Amana Project during a Climate Week NYC event in 2024. (Photo Courtesy of Marcelo Cwerner)
“We want to create a more equitable food system that generates positive returns for all, including nature, producers, and consumers,” he said. “And at the same time, we need to keep investors at the table by showing that regeneration builds resilience in the face of growing instability.”
Brazilian financier Jose Pugas, another key figure who supports the project, traces his commitment to equity back to a defining moment in law school. When a pipeline spill dumped 340,000 gallons of oil into Brazil’s Guanabara Bay, crippling the fishing industry, his father — a union leader for fisherfolk — told him, “I don’t trust lawyers, but I trust you.”
Determined to act, Pugas began his sustainability journey through law and later pivoted to finance. Now a partner and head of sustainability at Brazilian asset manager JPG, he played a pivotal role in launching the Amana Project.
“The Amana Project represents everything I believe in,” he said. “It is large scale and inclusive. It flips the script on palm oil, which has previously promoted deforestation but is now being used to reforest areas. It creates income for local communities and a clear return for short-term and long-term investors.”
His father, he said, remains his inspiration. “He was fighting through politics and I’m fighting in the economic sector, but we both share the same hunger to make the world better.
Cwerner, the project’s farmer liaison, is also committed to a fairer world. At age 30, Cwerner was on the brink of becoming the youngest partner in KPMG, a global financing firm, and completing a multi-million-dollar deal on Wall Street. One evening, walking along Manhattan’s 5th Avenue, he saw homeless people sleeping outside a store selling luxury watches.
“That moment shook me,” he said. “I started questioning what I was really contributing to the world. I realized the most valuable thing isn’t money — it’s our time on this Earth. And we’re here not just for ourselves, but for the collective.”
Since that evening, the collective has been his focus. “Not everyone has to agree,” he said, “but if 20 to 30 percent of people do, we’ll have a world where no one is hungry, where everyone has a comfortable place to sleep, and where we don’t fight each other so much.”
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