Deforestation in the Amazon has dropped to a 9-year low
But decades of forest loss have had an enormous human impact
Conversations at COP29, the UN’s annual climate change conference which got underway in Baku, Azerbaijan on Monday, have generally been of a similar nature: targets to cut emissions are being missed and countries need to step up.
Less is more
But there has been some good news for Brazilian officials to share in meetings at COP29. According to government figures, deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has fallen to the lowest level since 2015 this year, as the country’s administration continues on the path to completely end illegal deforestation in the nation by 2030.
In the last year, some 6,288 square kilometers (over 2,400 square miles) of Amazonian rainforest was destroyed, down more than 30% from the year before and less than half the peak seen under Lula’s predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro. The deforestation figures were announced just days before Brazilian officials revealed new and improved CO2 emissions goals ahead of COP29.
As one of the world’s largest “carbon sinks”, the Amazon rainforest and its maintenance are of huge global importance, but its partial destruction has had a particularly profound impact on the Brazilian population: a recent study found that deforestation could have been responsible for more than 700,000 premature deaths in the country.
While the drop off in recent years is significant and mirrors the wider fall in deforestation seen around the globe in 2023, the world will be looking even more closely at Brazil’s eco efforts next year, as the nation takes its turn to host COP30.
