Brazil, in 2023 has seen the biggest drop of carbon emissions in 15 years.
SÃO PAULO, magazine Folha Press says, Brazil emitted 2.29 billion tons of greenhouse gases (GtCO₂e), a 12% drop compared to the previous year, when 2.6 GtCO₂e were emitted.
The data comes from the new Seeg (Greenhouse Gas Emissions Estimation System) collection, prepared by the Climate Observatory and launched this Thursday (7).
The first year of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's (PT) third term saw the largest percentage reduction since 2009 (1.7 GtCO₂e), when the lowest level of emissions in the platform's historical series, which began in 1990, occurred.
The reduction in pollution from carbon dioxide and other gases that cause climate change was caused by the containment of deforestation in the Amazon. In the wake of the resumption of policies to combat the devastation of the forest, emissions from deforestation in the region fell by 37% - from 1.07 billion tons of CO₂e to 687 million tons (MtCO₂e).
Considering all Brazilian biomes, the reduction in emissions from deforestation was 24%. This is because, with the exception of the Amazon and the Pampas (-15%), the rates increased significantly: in the Pantanal they grew by 86%; in the denseness, the second largest biome in the country, 23%; in the caatinga, 11%; and in the Atlantic Forest, 4%.
Land use changes (basically deforestation) are the main source of gross greenhouse gas emissions in Brazil, accounting for 46% of the total in 2023 (1.062 GtCO₂e). For comparison, if it were a country, deforestation in Brazilian biomes would be the eighth largest emitter on the planet, considering 2021 data compiled by the Climate Watch platform.
"The drop in emissions in 2023 is certainly good news," says Seeg coordinator David Tsai. "At the same time, it shows that we are still overly dependent on what happens in the Amazon, since policies for other sectors are timid or non-existent."
BRAZILIAN ECONOMY EMITTING MORE
All sectors of the economy saw an increase in emissions last year. The most significant increase, of 2.2%, occurred in agriculture, which released 631 million tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, compared to 617 MtCO₂e in 2022. Agriculture is the second largest source of emissions in the country (28% of the total) and broke its own carbon record for the fourth consecutive time.
Added to emissions from land use change, largely associated with the opening of pastures and crops, agricultural activity continues to be the largest emitter in the country, accounting for 74% of climate pollution in the national territory.
According to Seeg, the increase in the sector was caused mainly by the expansion of the cattle herd, which in 2023 reached 238.6 million head of cattle. This is reflected mainly in the growth of enteric fermentation (the "burp" of cattle), the name given to the digestion of cellulose by speculation of animal output, which emits methane, a powerful greenhouse gas.
It is estimated that methane warms the planet about 80 times more than carbon dioxide. Methane, however, dissipates over decades, while CO₂ (responsible for 64% of global warming) can take hundreds of years to disappear. Scientists argue that drastic cuts in methane emissions could be a way to cool the planet quickly.
In the energy sector, the increase was 1.1%, going from 420 MtCO₂e in 2022 to 417 MtCO₂e in 2023, while the industrial processes sector grew 0.9%, from 90 MtCO₂e to 91 MtCO₂e, and the waste sector, 0.2%, going from 91 MtCO2e in 2022 to 92 MtCO2e last year.
The energy sector accounted for 18% of Brazil's total emissions last year, and the waste and industrial processes sectors, for 4% each.
In all four sectors, the report points out, the increase in emissions accompanied the economic recovery, with a 2.9% increase in GDP (Gross Domestic Product).
"This indicates that the Brazilian economy is tied to greenhouse gas emissions," explains Tsai, using the transportation of production as an example, which is highly dependent on road transport and petroleum diesel.
"Brazil needs a consistent decarbonization plan that will truly transform the economy," says the researcher.
He emphasizes that the energy transition must ensure that the social and economic needs of countries are met with energy that comes from clean sources, such as solar, wind, hydroelectric and biofuels. "It is not only possible to dissociate economic growth from emissions, it is necessary."
'MIGRATION' OF DEFORESTATION
The Amazon is the biome that has historically emitted the most greenhouse gases, mainly due to the advance of livestock farming over the forest.
According to Seeg, in 2022, the biome's gross emissions were five times greater than those of the Cerrado, due to the greater extent of the deforested area and the forest vegetation, which accumulates more carbon. But in 2023, this gap had narrowed and gross emissions from the Amazon were 3.5 times greater than those from the Cerrado.
Although it remains at a high level, the loss of native vegetation in the Amazon has been decreasing, while in the Cerrado it is occurring at a proportional rate three times greater.
"The increase in devastation in the Cerrado at a time of decline in the Amazon has already occurred at other times and probably indicates 'leakage' of deforestation between biomes", says the Seeg report.
The increase in deforestation in the region has made Maranhão enter the ranking of the five states with the highest gross emissions in Brazil for the first time, behind only Pará and Mato Grosso.
Gross emissions represent the total emitted by the country. The calculation of net emissions discounted the removal of carbon by regenerated forests, conservation units and indigenous lands. Brazil's net emissions fell 15% in 2023, going from 1.956 GtCO₂e in 2022 to 1.653 GtCO₂e.
This measurement is used by the federal government in the climate target assumed in the Paris Agreement, known as NDC. Brazil's commitment is 1.3 GtCO₂e of net emissions in 2025 and 1.2 GtCO₂e in 2030.
At a global level, the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere hit a new record last year, according to the World Meteorological Organization, linked to the UN.
The concentration of CO₂ in the atmosphere reached 420 parts per million (ppm) in 2023, an increase of 2.3 ppm compared to the previous year. This was the 12th consecutive year in which the concentration of carbon dioxide grew above 2 ppm.
Take care!
Prof. Carl Boniface
Vocabulary builder:
GtCO2 means one billion tonnes of carbon dioxide. “IFRS” means International Financial Reporting Standards.
Denseness (n) = density, compactness, thickness, closeness
Biome (n) = a large naturally occurring community of flora and fauna occupying a major habitat, e.g. forest or tundra.
Cerrado is one of the five major biomes of Brazil, covering around 25% of the national territory and covering an area of between 1.8 and 2 million km2 in the states of Goiás, Tocantins, Mato Grosso do Sul, southern Mato Grosso, western Minas Gerais, the Federal District, western Bahia, southern Maranhão, western Piauí and parts of the state of São Paulo.
PPM is an abbreviation for "parts per million", which is a unit used to describe the concentration of a substance in a larger mixture. It's often used to describe low concentrations of something in water or soil.
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