BRAZIL · ENVIRONMENT
Key Facts
- The claim Ibama, Brazil’s federal environment agency, says fires in Pará state are set deliberately to clear land.
- The scale Satellites logged about 9,000 heat spots across the Amazon in October and over 3,500 in Pará.
- The response Pará decreed a Level II emergency for 180 days, and about 600 personnel work there.
- Climate talks COP31, the UN climate conference, runs until 20 November in the Turkish resort city of Antalya, Türkiye.
- As of 14 November 2026, 18:30 GMT (1:30 p.m. ET).
- Power Index Brazil ranks 1st of 14 in The Rio Times Latin America Power Index, with 74.2 points (November 2026 edition).
Brazil’s environment agency chief says the Amazon fires in Pará are set on purpose to clear land, while the UN climate summit is under way.
Published Saturday, 14 November 2026 · Source: interview with Ibama’s president, 14 November 2026; official records
Jair Schmitt, president of Ibama, Brazil’s federal environment agency, said in an interview published on Saturday, 14 November, that fire is used as a deforestation method, above all in western Pará, a state in northern Brazil. The aim, he said, is to clear the forest so that cattle or crops can go there.
The claim lands while COP31, the UN climate conference, is under way in the Turkish resort city of Antalya, Türkiye, from 9 to 20 November, according to the UNFCCC (the UN climate secretariat). For a US reader it frames the Amazon fires as a question of enforcement and land-grabbing, not only of weather.
What We Know
Schmitt described the “broca” technique: part of the vegetation is cut, the debris is left to dry, and then it is set alight. In severe drought, he said, the flames can reach trees that are still standing.
He said there are almost no natural fires in the Amazon. Land-grabbers on public land use fire to consolidate their occupation and to press for changes in the law, he said.
Owners can also burn during peak fire periods so that the practice goes unnoticed, according to Schmitt. The interview reports no arrests or charges.
Schmitt gave about 9,000 heat spots in the Amazon in October and more than 3,500 in Pará at the time of the interview. Ibama identified 3,824 properties at high risk of forest fire, and those that ignored notices are being fined and embargoed, meaning banned from using the land.
In Pará, Ibama has about 600 personnel, 85 vehicles and 17 aircraft, he said. Nationally it has more than 2,600 brigade members, 19 aircraft and more than 260 vehicles.
Ibama has more than R$260 million (about US$46 million at R$5.65 per US$, the commercial-dollar rate of Brazil’s central bank (BCB) on 13 November) for forest-fire work, Schmitt said. Brazil’s Ministry of Integration and Regional Development approved 34 humanitarian assistance plans worth R$24 million (about US$4.2 million).
The interview records that Pará’s state government decreed a Level II emergency (a formal state emergency status) in fire-hit areas, valid for 180 days. It also mentions a separate environmental and climate emergency of 120 days, declared on 11 November.
Why It Matters
If fires are set on purpose, the remedy is enforcement against land-grabbers, not only firefighters and rain. That is why the fines and embargoes Schmitt described on 14 November, on 3,824 high-risk properties, matter as much as the heat-spot count.
Agência Brasil, Brazil’s public news agency, reported on Thursday 22 October that Inpe, the national space institute, recorded 2,991 heat spots in Pará between 14 and 20 October. It also reported 321 active fire events in 76 municipalities, and 16 Pará municipalities had declared emergencies.
Agência Brasil also reported that 522 federal brigade members, 41 vehicles and 13 aircraft were being sent. The government had sent Provisional Measure 1398/26, a presidential decree with force of law, to Congress on 21 October, opening R$300 million (about US$53 million) of extraordinary credit for Civil Defense, the emergency-response service.
The government linked the situation to El Niño, the Pacific weather pattern that can bring drought, and to scarce rain, Agência Brasil reported on 22 October. The Ministry of the Environment also found irregular land management with deliberate use of fire, concentrated in irregular invasions of land-reform settlements and of “legal reserves”, private land that must stay partly forested.
The Other Side
Environment Minister João Paulo Capobianco was more cautious on 22 October, when he said: “We are not saying there are direct cases of criminal fires, but this is being investigated,” in our translation from Portuguese, according to Agência Brasil. The minister then spoke of an investigation.
Three weeks later the Ibama chief speaks of intent and says natural fires are almost absent. The two statements come from two federal officials in one government.
What To Watch
COP31 closes on Friday 20 November, according to the UNFCCC. The Level II decree runs 180 days, but no end date is published.
What Is Not Known
The interview does not give the area burned in hectares, and it names no one who set a specific fire. It reports no arrests or charges.
Aircraft counts differ: Schmitt put 17 aircraft in Pará, while the state government cites six helicopters. The two counts may measure different things, and we cannot say which is complete.
What It Means for You
If the fires are mostly set, the test of Brazil’s climate record is whether fines and embargoes on the 3,824 high-risk properties are enforced, not only whether it rains. Brazil’s government, not the markets, is the actor to watch while COP31 runs until 20 November.
Connected Coverage
Read the Brazil news hub, our earlier report on how Amazon fires drew 522 firefighters and the Amazonas fire emergency in 36 towns.
Frequently Asked Questions
What did Ibama’s president say about the fires?
Jair Schmitt said in an interview published on 14 November 2026 that fire is used to clear forest for cattle or crops, above all in western Pará. He said there are almost no natural fires in the Amazon.
How many heat spots did he report?
Schmitt reported about 9,000 heat spots in the Amazon in October and more than 3,500 in Pará at the time of the interview. Ibama also identified 3,824 properties at high risk of forest fire.
What did the environment minister say earlier?
On 22 October 2026 Minister João Paulo Capobianco said the government was not claiming direct cases of criminal fires, but that this was being investigated. Agência Brasil reported his remarks.
When does COP31 end?
COP31, the UN climate conference in the Turkish resort city of Antalya, Türkiye, runs from 9 to 20 November 2026. It closes on Friday 20 November, according to the UNFCCC.
Sources: interview with Ibama’s president, 14 November 2026; Agência Brasil, 22 October 2026 https://agenciabrasil.ebc.com.br/meio-ambiente/noticia/2026-10/governo-intensifica-reforcos-para-combater-incendios-no-para ; UNFCCC, COP31 https://unfccc.int/cop31 ; BCB exchange rate series, 13 November 2026 https://api.bcb.gov.br/dados/serie/bcdata.sgs.1/dados/ultimos/1?formato=json .
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