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Around 940 square kilometres of the Amazon forest were cleared in the first 3 months of 2022. These estimates are according to INPE, which puts this rate of deforestation highest in 6 years.

The observed rate of deforestation is 64% higher compared to the same period in 2021.

The rate of deforestation has increased under the current president Jair Bolsonaro who took office in 2019. He is accused of weakening environmental laws and legitimising illegal land grabbing in forest areas.

There may be signs of irreversible damage, as a recent study suggests that the Amazon forest released 20% more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere over the past decade than it absorbed. The Amazon basin emitted 16.6bn tonnes of CO2 while absorbing only 13.9bn tonnes between 2010 and 2019. This makes it extremely difficult to contain global warming.

According to IPCC, we need the global greenhouse gas emissions to peak before 2025 at the latest and reduced by 43% by 2030 in order to limit global warming to around 1.5°C.

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