Ahead of COP30, Brazil announces a reduction in its CO2 emissions

This is a record that Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will be able to proudly display at COP30 in Belém on Monday, November 10: his country recorded its largest reduction in gross greenhouse gas emissions between 2023 and 2024, a decrease of 16.7%. This is unprecedented since 2009, according to the Climate Observatory. Is this a simple miracle or a sign that a left-wing policy is beneficial for the climate? "The new data shows the impact of the government's renewed efforts to control deforestation," explained the network of Brazilian NGOs in a statement.

This encouraging finding contrasts sharply with the out-of-control situation that prevailed in the Amazon under the leadership of the far-right leader, Jair Bolsonaro. Since the former steelworker's return to power, deforestation in the world's largest rainforest, a vital terrestrial carbon sink, has steadily declined, falling by 11% between August 2024 and July 2025 alone.

Is Brazil about to take the lead in the fight against global warming? This idea, which is gaining traction among diplomats and observers of climate negotiations in the lead-up to COP30, must be handled with care .

It stems, on the one hand, from the setbacks undertaken by Donald Trump in the United States on environmental issues, effectively undermining the credibility that his predecessor, Joe Biden, had tried to build on the international stage. On the other hand, it stems from the abandonment of this same leadership by the European Union, which has been unable to agree on its emissions reduction trajectory for 2035 .

Despite ambitious results, President Lula is also criticized by environmental NGOs for his support of hydrocarbon drilling projects , particularly the one underway off the coast of the Amazon, for which the state-owned company Petrobras began the exploration phase in October. In any case, it remains to be seen whether this dramatic 16.7% drop in emissions last year will allow Brazil to meet its climate commitments.