South America's largest country cut down its carbon dioxide equivalent (GtCO2e) emissions by 12% in 2023 compared to the previous year, Agencia Brasil reported Thursday citing data from the Climate Observatory. In 2023, Brazil emitted 2.3 billion tons of greenhouse gases, already a reduction from 2022's 2.
6 billion tons. According to the observatory, this is the biggest percentage drop in emissions since 2009, when the country recorded the lowest emissions in the historical series that began in 1990 (1.77 billion GtCO2e).
The drop in deforestation in the Amazon was the main reason for the reduction in emissions. Emissions from deforestation in the rainforest fell by 37%, from 1.074 billion tons of carbon dioxide equivalent to 687 million tons.
On the other hand, data from the Observatory's Greenhouse Gas Emissions Estimates System (SEEG) show that, despite the slowdown in the Amazon, the devastation of the other biomes resulted in the emission of 1.04 GtCO2e gross in 2023. According to SEEG Coordinator David Tsai, the reduction in emissions is good news, but it highlights the dependence on what happens in the Amazon, especially if the country is to achieve its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC).
The new NDCs must be presented by February 2025 and must be aligned with the first Global Stocktaking of the Paris Agreement (GST), which ends in 2023 at COP28 in Dubai. The drop in emissions in 2023 is certainly good news, said Tsai. It puts the country on the right track.
