AMAZON DEFORESTATION FALLS TO RECORD LOW UNDER LULA AHEAD OF BRAZILIAN RUN-OFF

Tue 20 October 2026:

Official data shows 42 percent drop in clearing, boosting president’s climate credentials days before tight vote against Bolsonaro’s son

Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest has dropped to its lowest level since records began in 1988, according to official figures that provide a timely boost to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva just days before a presidential run-off.

Brazil’s space research agency, Inpe, said on Friday that 3,335 square kilometres (1,288 square miles) of forest were cleared in the 12 months through July, roughly 42 percent less than the previous year. The prior record low stood at 4,571 sq km (1,765 sq miles) in 2011-12, while annual losses peaked at nearly 30,000 sq km (nearly 11,600 sq miles) in the mid-1990s. Inpe’s Prodes satellite programme measures the period from August to July, when cloud cover is lower.

“It’s an absolutely stratospheric drop…it’s like a dream,” Environment Minister Joao Paulo Capobianco said at a news conference in Brasilia.

Marcio Astrini of the climate advocacy group Observatorio do Clima called the figures “a historic achievement” and said they show that “with political will, it is possible to curb deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions”.

President Lula wrote on X: “Our goal is to achieve zero illegal deforestation by 2030.”

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Sharp decline after Bolsonaro-era surge

Lula took office in 2023 pledging to end illegal deforestation by 2030 after clearing rose to a 15-year high under his far-right predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro. The Amazon lost about 11,600 sq km (about 4,480 sq miles) a year on average during Bolsonaro’s 2019-2022 term—almost 60 percent more than in the previous four years. Deforestation has now fallen every year since 2022 and is down 71.2 percent over four years. The AFP news agency attributes the reduction to greater monitoring and stiffer penalties for illegal logging.

Election backdrop and rival’s platform

Lula faces Bolsonaro’s eldest son, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, in the run-off on October 25, with polls showing the race neck and neck. Flavio pledged in his manifesto to strengthen environmental oversight in the Amazon, focus enforcement on organised crime rather than extractive workers and small farmers, and end “illegal deforestation” by 2029. He has also praised his father, who is serving a 27-year sentence under house arrest for coup plotting, for opposing what he calls a “radical environmental agenda”.

Deforestation in the Cerrado savanna south of the Amazon also declined by about 24 percent, to 5,517 sq km (2,130 sq miles), the lowest since records began in 2001. The figures come as global attention remains focused on the Amazon’s role in climate regulation, with Brazil set to host international climate talks in the coming years.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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