Driven by Deforestation, Brazil Has a 'Lost Decade' in Carbon Emissions
Brazil has lost a decade in the race against climate change. Between 2010 and 2021, gross greenhouse gas emissions went from 1.7 billion tons to 2.4 billion an increase of 40.7%. The picture is even worse in terms of net emissions when the gases removed by forests are discounted, which increased by 56% (from 1.3 billion to 1.7 billion tons). The data are from the Estimation System of Emissions and Removals of Greenhouse Gases from the Climate Observatory. The compilation of the last ten years was released this Thursday (23). The main culprit for these numbers is deforestation, which, in 2021, accounted for about 49% of national emissions. In that year, gross emissions from land use and forests in all biomes reached 1.19 billion tons (Gt) of carbon dioxide equivalent, an increase of 83% compared to 2010. The year 2010 is important because it marks the regulation of the National Policy on Climate Change, which was created to ensure the adoption of measures to predict and avoid the causes of climate change.