Deforestation accelerated in Brazil while climate talks were underway in Egypt

Deforestation in Earth’s largest rainforest accelerated sharply during the month of November when U.N. climate talks were underway in Egypt, according to data released today by Brazil.

Via its satellite-based deforestation alert system, Brazil’s national space research institute INPE recorded 555 square kilometers (214 square miles) of forest clearing during November, about 60% above average for the month over the past seven years and more than twice last November’s rate.

November’s tally brings the area of deforestation detected year to date to 10,049 square kilometers, the highest loss in the first 11 months of a year since at least 2008.

The new data comes on the heels of Brazil disclosing that deforestation for the 12 months ending July 31, 2022 amounted to 11,568 square kilometers, a drop of 11% from last year when forest clearing hit a 15-year-high. The results — still preliminary — are based on higher resolution imagery than is used for INPE’s deforestation alert system.

Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon, which accounts for more than 60% of the Amazon rainforest, has been trending upward since 2012.

Incoming president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has pledged to reverse deforestation by prioritizing efforts to protect the Amazon. During his first two terms in office from 2003-2010, Lula presided over a steep decline in Amazon forest destruction.

Header image: Fire near the Manicoré River in Amazonas state in August 2022. Photo © Christian Braga / Greenpeace