Greenhouse gas emissions have the largest drop in 15 years in Brazil

Brazil emitted 2.3 billion tons of greenhouse gases in 2023, the largest percentage drop in emissions recorded since 2009, according to data published this Thursday by the Climate Observatory.

The entity, formed by a consortium of 119 non-governmental organizations including Greenpeace, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and Conservation International, highlighted that The total greenhouse gases emitted in 2023, in Brazil, registered a reduction of 12% compared to 2022, when the country released 2.6 billion tons into the atmosphere.

According to data from the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Estimation System (SEEG), from the Climate Observatory, emissions caused by changes in land use, which represent 46% of the total greenhouse gases emitted by Brazil in 2023 , recorded a drop of 24%.

The organization attributes the positive result to the control of deforestation in the Amazon, resumed in 2023 with the return of the Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Deforestation in the Amazon, of the Ministry of the Environment, since the data collected indicated that In other Brazilian biomes, greenhouse gas emissions from the conversion of native vegetation increased.

In the Cerrado (biome located in the central-western region of Brazil) there was an increase of 23%, in the Caatinga (biome located in the northeast of the country) of 11%, in the Atlantic Forest (biome located in much of the coast) 4%, while in the Pantanal (also in the central-western region) the increase was 86%.

In Pampa (located in the southern region of Brazil), emissions from land use conversion fell by 15%, but the biome represents only 1% of the sector.

“The drop in emissions in 2023 is undoubtedly good news and puts the country in the right direction to meet its NDC [sigla em inglês que denomina o compromisso de cada país signatário do Acordo de Paris de reduzir a poluição para que o aquecimento global não ultrapasse 1,5°C neste século]the national climate plan, for 2025. At the same time, it shows that we are still excessively dependent on what happens in the Amazon, since policies for other sectors are timid or non-existent,” assessed David Tsai, coordinator of SEEG, from the Observatory of the Climate.

The Brazilian Government published on Wednesday the annual report of the Legal Satellite Deforestation Monitoring Project in the Amazon (Prodes), of the National Institute for Space Research (Inpe), which found a 30.6% reduction in deforestation in the Amazon. Brazilian Amazon compared to the previous period.

The official deforestation rate of the largest tropical forest on the planet, measured in the country between August 2023 and July 2024 based on the characteristics of the biome, was 6,288 square kilometers, a total that indicates the largest percentage drop in 15 years.

In the Cerrado, the official deforestation rate for the period was 8,174 square kilometers, which represented a drop of 25.8% compared to the period from August 2022 to July 2023 and was also the first reduction in five years in the biome.

Even with the slowdown in emissions in the Amazon, the Climate Observatory noted that the devastation of other Brazilian biomes caused the emission of 1.04 million tons of gross carbon dioxide equivalent in 2023.

The total, according to data cited by the organization, “makes Brazil the fifth largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world. If it were a country, Brazil’s deforestation would be the eighth largest emitter on the planet, behind Japan and ahead of Iran.”

In addition to deforestation, other sectors of the economy contribute to increased emissions. Agriculture had its fourth consecutive record in emissions, with an increase of 2.2%, mainly due to another increase in livestock production.

Agriculture accounted for 28% of Brazil’s gross emissions last year. Adding emissions due to changes in land use, agricultural activity continues to be, by far, the largest emitter in the country, with 74% of the total.