WHY WE NEED TO ACT
At over 800 million hectares, the Amazon is the world’s largest river basin, supplying 20% of the planet’s surface freshwater and containing the world’s largest rainforest. While the basin extends over the borders of nine South American countries, most of it lies within Brazil.
Deforestation in the Amazon has been the largest contributor to Brazil’s greenhouse gas emissions. Brazil’s explicit target of reducing Amazon deforestation by 80% by 2020 represents one of the biggest emissions reduction commitments by any country in the world. Reductions already achieved demonstrate that reaching this target is possible, but there are many challenges. Remarkably, deforestation has declined at the same time as Brazil’s production of agricultural commodities has increased. Whether that can continue to occur into the future remains unclear.
