Legal Amazon greenhouse gas emissions in Brazil 2010-2022

Greenhouse gas emissions in the Legal Amazon area in Brazil were estimated at more than 1.2 billion tons of CO₂ equivalent in 2022. This figure represents a 14 percent decrease from the previous year, but is roughly 78 percent higher than greenhouse gas emissions in 2010. There are several sources of greenhouse gases in the Amazon, with land use change and agricultural activities as the leading causes.

Land use change driving increase in emissions

The clearing of forest land for purposes of cattle ranching, crop cultivation, or logging is what largely drives land use change in the Legal Amazon area. A common method of clearing the land is through burning of vegetation, which not only contributes directly to greenhouse gas emissions, but also limits CO₂ uptake by the vegetation that is left. Pará, the Amazon state with the highest emissions, is also the state with the largest deforested land.

The Amazon’s booming agricultural sector

Forests still make up the majority of Amazon land area, though the deforested area has been on the rise in recent years. This increase in Amazon deforestation can be partially explained by a lucrative agricultural industry. Since the beginning of the century, the area planted in the Legal Amazon has nearly tripled, accompanied by a growth in crop production value of roughly 18-fold in the same period.