According to data from SEEG, deforestation resulted in a rise in the country in 2021. However, the increase also involved contributions from agriculture and livestock, industrial processes and energy
In 2021, the greenhouse gas emissions in Brazil were at their highest for nearly two decades. The information is from the 10th edition of SEEG (System of Estimates of Greenhouse Gas Emissions by the Climate Observatory): the country emitted 2.42 billion gross tons of CO2 equivalent, which was 12.2% more than in 2020. The largest amount in the last 20 years was in 2003, when Brazil had its historic record for emissions.
The emissions from deforestation were mainly responsible for the increase in 2021, driven by the third consecutive year of growth of the deforested areas in the Amazon and in other biomes during the government of Jair Bolsonaro – the rise in emissions due to change in land use and forests was 18.5%. The destruction of the biomes on their own emitted more gross tons of CO2 than Japan. The increase was also followed by other sectors, such as agriculture and livestock, industrial processes and the use of products, as well as energy, which had the highest increase since the “economic miracle” of the military dictatorship, in 1973.
