▲ The Brazilian Amazon
Environmental policies implemented by the Brazilian government have led to a decrease in deforestation in the Amazon rainforest, reaching its lowest level in a decade during the first half of the year.
Al Jazeera reported on July 11 (local time) that Brazil's National Institute for Space Research (INPE) recorded 1,295 square kilometers of forest destruction in the Amazon from January to June of this year.
This represents a 38 percent decrease compared to the same period last year, marking the lowest level for the first half of the year since 2016.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who faces a presidential election later this year, is highlighting this as a key achievement of his environmental policy and is accelerating the implementation of his agenda.
President Lula has set a goal to eradicate illegal logging in the Amazon by 2030, strengthening enforcement and expanding penalties for environmental crimes.
As a result, the rate of deforestation was cut in half in 2023, his first year in office, and the downward trend has continued since.
This stands in contrast to the previous administration of Jair Bolsonaro, during which deforestation surged due to policies promoting Amazon development and the expansion of mining.
In 2022, toward the end of the Bolsonaro administration, it was recorded that an area of forest 13 times the size of New York City had been destroyed.
However, the Lula administration is also facing criticism from environmental groups for allowing oil exploration near the mouth of the Amazon River.
These statistics on the reduction of deforestation are also drawing attention in relation to trade conflicts with the U.S. administration under Donald Trump.
The Trump administration pushed for additional tariffs on Brazil last June, citing issues such as illegal logging, but the Brazilian government is using these statistics to counter such moves.
President Lula emphasized, "Our government's decision is to reach zero deforestation by 2030," adding, "This is a policy chosen by Brazil, not because of demands from the international community."
Experts assessed that the reduction in Brazil's deforestation contributed significantly to the global decline in tropical rainforest loss last year.
The Amazon, the world's largest tropical rainforest, is known to play a key role in regulating the pace of global climate change by absorbing vast amounts of carbon.
President Lula is set to seek a fourth term in the upcoming presidential election in October, and it is expected that Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, the eldest son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, is likely to run against him from the right-wing bloc.
(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
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