The deforestation rate of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil and Colombia is dropping, according to new research. However the goal of stopping global deforestation by 2030 is at serious risk due to increasing destruction of other tropical forests.

Bogota

Extreme weather events are occurring more frequently amid rising sea-levels and increasing temperatures.

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Recent research has indicated that the rate of deforestation in the Amazon rainforest, spanning both Brazil and Colombia, is on the decline. This development suggests progress in efforts to preserve one of the largest and most biodiverse forests in the world. Despite these positive findings, the broader ambition of halting global deforestation by the year 2030 faces significant challenges.

The cause for concern comes from the accelerating rates of destruction observed in other tropical forests around the world. This trend threatens to undermine global efforts aimed at stopping deforestation within the next decade. The stark contrast between the successes in the Amazon and setbacks in other regions underscores the complexity of achieving global forest conservation goals.



Goal of halting forest loss by 2030 at risk

Tropical forests are humanity's best defense against climate change, but forest fires, illegal logging and the expansion of cattle ranching continue to threaten them. The World Resources Institute's annual Global Forest Watch offers a glimmer of hope, saying deforestation saw a major drop in Brazil and Colombia in 2023. Both Brazil and Colombia had administration changes in the past year or two, and we're really seeing an increasing rhetoric and political will around reducing forest loss, and it seems like that change is actually having a very rapid impact. Primary forest loss decreased by 36 percent in Brazil after President Lula da Silva took office following Jair Bolsonaro, who had eroded environmental protections. In Colombia, deforestation decreased 49 percent as the new administration of Gustavo Petro focused on protecting the environment through rural reforms and advancing peace negotiations with armed groups operating in the Amazon. Yet these reductions were offset by sharp increases in forest loss in other countries like Bolivia and Nicaragua. So we are seeing pretty massive increases. In Bolivia in particular now has the third most primary forest loss of any country in the tropics. This is a situation that's continuing to get worse there. Forest fires are a major factor and we're seeing forest fires in areas that have not previously burned, as well as agricultural expansion. The report shows that in 2023, the tropics lost 3.7 million hectares of primary forest. That's the equivalent of losing 10 football fields a minute. Overall, the global tree cover loss increased 24 percent from 2022. And what's worse, Colombia's impressive gains could be short-lived. We can't celebrate this reduction in deforestation in Colombia because it is just a result of a temporary decision by an illegal armed group that controls that territory. The government's political will is not enough to generate change because they don't control the region. And deforestation data for the first trimester of 2024 is already showing a radical new increase in deforestation, demonstrating just how fragile last year's reduction has been. 145 countries committed to reach zero deforestation by 2030. And despite some progress with just six years remaining, it's clear that the world continues to fall far short of reaching that target. Alessandro Ampietti, Al Jazeera, Bogota.

Arizona's Democratic governor signed a bill overturning an 1864 law banning abortion, a month after the state's supreme court said the Civil War-era rule was valid.

Arizona

Arizona governor signs bill repealing 1864 abortion ban

U.S. President Joe Biden said that both freedom of speech and the rule of law must be respected in protests at college campuses over Israel's war in Gaza. In response to a reporter's question, Biden said that the campus protests had not forced him to reconsider his policies in the Middle East.

Washington

Biden breaks silence on protests at University Campuses

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New York

More than 1,000 student protesters arrested across U.S.

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London

Voters head to polls in last test for U.K.'s Sunak

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Zaporizhzhia

Ukraine Invasion

U.S. accuses Russia of using chemical weapons in Ukraine

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Council of the City of Sydney

Grave fears for brothers missing on Mexico surf trip

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Government hints at further tax incentives in Budget

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Bogotá

Israel-Gaza War

Colombia ends diplomatic relations with Israel

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Jerusalem

Blinken pushes for sustained aid into Gaza during Israel trip

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Tbilisi

Thousands protest against Georgia's 'foreign influence' bill

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Qantas app data breach exposes customer data

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The Hague

ICJ rejects measures over German arms exports to Israel

New York police have entered Columbia University and arrested protesters barricaded inside a building who have been calling on the New York school to divest itself from companies associated with Israel.

Police enter Columbia University, arrest protesters

A smiling and healthy-looking King Charles returned to public duties on Tuesday (April 30) for the first time since he was diagnosed in February with cancer, paying a visit to a treatment center for the disease in London.

King Charles returns to public duties, visits cancer center

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Hainault

Teenage boy killed in London sword attack

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Canberra

Brittany Higgins fails in bid to delay defamation trial

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Buenos Aires

Argentina's Milei slashes 24,000 government jobs

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Odesa

Russian missile attack kills five in Ukraine's Odesa

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Edinburgh

Scotland's First Minister Humza Yousaf quits

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Lake Macquarie

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Columbia University began suspending pro-Palestinian activists who refused to dismantle a tent encampment on its New York City campus after the Ivy League school declared a stalemate in talks seeking to end the polarizing protest.

Columbia University suspends pro-Palestinian protesters

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Kharkiv

U.N. experts say North Korea missile landed in Kharkiv

Columbia University's president said that talks with pro-Palestinian activists over a protest encampment on the Ivy League campus in New York City had reached an impasse and urged demonstrators to voluntarily disperse or face suspension.

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Madrid

Pedro Sanchez stays on as Spain's prime minister

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Riyadh

U.S., U.K. urge Hamas to accept Israeli truce proposal

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Turin

Protesters call for climate action ahead of G7 meeting in Turin

French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne is in the Lebanese capital Beirut for talks aimed at easing tensions between Hezbollah and Israel. After meeting Lebanon’s influential Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri, an ally of Hezbollah, and the head of the Lebanese army, Joseph Aoun, Sejourne said there had been “a lot of progress” over the French proposals.

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