Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research published deforestation monitoring data for May 2026 showing a continued decline in the rate of Amazon forest destruction,

extending a trend of reduced deforestation that President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s government has highlighted as a central achievement of its climate and

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Key Developments

environmental policy since taking office in January 2023.

The May 2026 data, generated by the PRODES and DETER monitoring systems that use satellite imagery to detect deforestation in near-real time, showed deforestation

rates significantly below the peak levels recorded during the Bolsonaro administration years of 2019-2022, when Amazon deforestation accelerated to the highest levels in over

Background and Context

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a decade as enforcement of environmental protections was weakened, demarcation of indigenous lands was halted, and the political signals from Brasilia encouraged those who

sought to clear forest for cattle ranching and soy cultivation.

What Experts Are Saying

Lula highlighted the May 2026 data at the G7 Evian summit on June 15-17, citing Brazil’s deforestation reduction as evidence of the country’s credibility

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as an international climate partner and as a preview of the ambitions for COP30, which Brazil will host in Belem in the Amazon region

in November 2025 – an occasion that has focused global attention on the Amazon as the world’s largest terrestrial carbon sink and the ecosystem

whose preservation is most critical to avoiding the worst impacts of global warming. Read also: World Cup 2026 June 19: USA vs Australia, Brazil

vs Haiti.

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The reduction in Amazon deforestation under Lula has been substantial but not yet sufficient to achieve the zero deforestation by 2030 target that Brazil has committed to internationally.

Deforestation in the Amazon has fallen by approximately 60 percent since the peak levels of the Bolsonaro era, but tens of thousands of hectares

of forest continue to be cleared annually for agriculture, mining, and infrastructure, and the remaining deforestation occurs increasingly in areas where enforcement is most

difficult – the expanding agricultural frontier of the Cerrado savanna region, where deforestation controls are less stringent than in the Amazon, and in remote

areas where illegal clearing by criminal networks operating in forests with limited government presence is hardest to detect and prosecute.

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The Lula government’s approach combines increased enforcement through IBAMA, the federal environmental agency, and through stepped-up presence in the Amazon through FUNAI, the indigenous

affairs agency, with economic incentives for sustainable land use and international financial support through mechanisms like the Amazon Fund, which has received significant contributions

from Norway and Germany in recognition of Brazil’s deforestation reduction progress.

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The Brazilian Amazon’s role as the world’s largest terrestrial carbon sink, storing approximately 150-200 billion tonnes of carbon, gives international donors both a compelling

reason to support Brazilian deforestation control and a direct stake in its success that extends far beyond Brazil’s national boundaries.

Sources: Reuters – Latin America | BBC News – Latin America | AP – Latin America

Sources and Further Reading

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