Brazil Faces Environmental Protection Challenges in Amazon Amid COP30 Preparations
Ahead of COP30 in Belém, Brazil faces criticism over plans to reduce protections in the Amazon's Terra Nossa settlement amid alarming climate data showing rising temperatures and deforestation.
- • INCRA plans to divide the Terra Nossa settlement, risking legitimizing illegal land occupations.
- • Half of the Terra Nossa area is controlled by illegal cattle ranchers causing deforestation and violence.
- • Brazilian Amazon's average temperature in 2024 rose 1.5°C above the Paris Agreement limit.
- • The Amazon has lost 52 million hectares of native vegetation since 1985, worsening climate impacts.
- • Human Rights Watch warns that protecting residents' rights is crucial ahead of COP30.
Key details
As Brazil prepares to host the COP30 climate summit in Belém this November, critical environmental protection issues in the Amazon have come to the forefront. The federal agency INCRA plans to divide the Terra Nossa Sustainable Development Project (PDS Terra Nossa) — a settlement established in 2006 across 150,000 hectares for sustainable livelihoods and forest preservation — into three distinct areas. This move risks legitimizing illegal occupations by cattle ranchers who currently control about half of the settlement, having caused significant deforestation and violence against residents who oppose them.
Human Rights Watch has issued warnings against this proposed division, stating that formalizing these illegal claims would benefit criminals destroying the rainforest. INCRA acknowledges the violence and organized crime but insists on proceeding with the plan, which could remove vital protections from parts of the forest.
This legal uncertainty compounds a dire environmental context: according to the MapBiomas Atmosfera platform, the Brazilian Amazon's average temperature in 2024 was 1.5°C above the Paris Agreement's ideal limit, with the biome losing 52 million hectares of native vegetation since 1985. Deforestation contributes heavily to climate disruption, responsible for 74% of rainfall reduction and 16% of temperature increases during dry periods. Brazil overall has seen rising temperatures, with the Pantanal region heating faster than the Amazon.
Experts like USP Professor Paulo Artaxo and MapBiomas coordinator Tasso Azevedo emphasize that these data underline the urgent need for evidence-based public policies. Yet, the proposed changes to Terra Nossa signal a troubling dissonance between Brazil's environmental rhetoric ahead of COP30 and its on-the-ground policies.
The fate of PDS Terra Nossa serves as a litmus test for Brazil’s commitment to preserving the Amazon. If INCRA's plan goes unchallenged, it could embolden further illegal deforestation and violence, undermining the country’s climate goals. Human Rights Watch urges legal action to protect residents and forest rights, underscoring that respecting these protections ahead of COP30 is essential for Brazil’s credibility on the global stage.