Forest fires in three states in the Amazon that recently re-elected pro-Bolsonaro governors jumped sharply in the two weeks following the October 30 runoff election, according to data reviewed by newspaper Folha de S.Paulo.
Satellite data collected by Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (Inpe) indicate 3,332 fire outbreaks between November 1 and 16 in the states of Acre, Amazonas, and Rondônia — a 1,216-percent increase in relation to the same period last year.
This rise in forest fires is unprecedented for the time of the year, as the Amazonian rainy season begins. Fires are typically more prevalent during the middle of the year.
The leading state in both fires and deforestation remains Pará, led by pro-Lula Governor Helder Barbalho — who was re-elected in October. Mr. Barbalho attended COP27 in Egypt, where the president-elect spoke of his desire to host the 2025 climate conference in the Amazon rainforest.
Pará has led all Amazonian states in deforestation rates every year since 2006.
Nationwide deforestation rates increased every year under the Jair Bolsonaro administration. Last year, the government even presented a plan to supposedly reduce deforestation that actually allowed figures to increase.
A similar thing happened at the beginning of this year, when Brazil’s Interministerial Committee on Climate Change updated its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to the Paris Agreement.
As The Brazilian Report revealed in February, the update actually gives the country more leeway in terms of carbon emissions than its original commitments to the Paris Agreement in 2015, as it raises the baseline upon which targets are calculated.
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