Brazil’s gas emissions have the second largest increase in almost two decades in 2021

Brazil registered in 2021 the second largest increase in greenhouse gas emissions in almost two decades, according to a report released yesterday by the Climate Observatory, the Amazon Environmental Research Institute (IPAM), and other partner entities.

That year, the volume grew by 12.5 percent over 2020 and reached 2.4 billion gross tons, less than that recorded in 2003, when it rose by 20 percent.

The amplification of deforestation, especially in the Amazon, is the main reason for the increase, according to IPAM.

From 2020 to 2021, the total CO2 equivalent (GtCO2e) affecting Brazilian biomes increased from 1 billion to 1.19 billion gross tons.

In 2021, the states of Pará and Mato Grosso topped the list of states with the highest emissions, respectively, with 18.5 percent and 11.1 percent of the volume of gases released into the atmosphere.

The study revealed that land use change is the component that drove most of Brazil’s gross emissions two years ago.

When emissions resulting from area deforestation and other land use changes are added to those from agro-industrial activities, they were equivalent to 74 percent of all climate pollution recorded in 2021.

“Most of the gross emissions (92 percent) are caused by changes in land use, consisting mostly of deforestation of the Amazon biome, which concentrates 77 percent (911 MtCO2e) of the sector’s gross emissions in 2021,” IPAM highlighted.

The document highlighted that the dispersion of gases in the atmosphere in the country was double the world average in 2021. The team responsible for the measurement analyzed the data collected since 1970 and the consequences of the emissions for the climate goals set by the country.

The report recommends that the federal government “immediately correct the carbon ‘pedal’ of Brazil’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) before the meeting of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which takes place in June 2023 in Bonn, Germany.

Another suggestion is that the government should promote a participatory model to build an NDC by 2030, which would replace the previous one and be compatible with the 1.5°C target.

Finally, the researchers advise government authorities to develop a plan to implement the NDC and establish an emissions trajectory in Brazil, which foresees carbon budgets with maximum amounts to be emitted each year or every five years and contains a proposal for actions to combat deforestation and forest recovery.