Recent data confirm that 2022 is on pace to match 2021’s rate of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon: the founder and CEO of Mongabay, Rhett A. Butler, is a sought-after commentator on tropical forest issues who’s regularly quoted in mainstream news media on the topic, and he joins the podcast to discuss what has contributed to the record-matching pace of Amazon deforestation, how the October 2022 Brazilian election could alter that trajectory, plus related tropical forest issues from around the world.
Rhett also shares his thoughts on two recent stories and how they change forest conservation moving forward. Firstly, Norway and Indonesia are renewing a previously canceled agreement worth $1 billion under a REDD+ scheme, in which the former would pay the latter to keep forests standing. Indonesia terminated the previous agreement in 2021 as Norway failed to follow through on payment.
Also discussed is a recent move by the European Parliament, which voted overwhelmingly in favor of banning products linked to deforestation from entering the European Union, placing the burden of tracking the supply chain of these commodities on the buyer. Rhett describes the positives and negatives of the decision and the precedent it sets for future policy and forest conservation globally.
Related reading:
See also:
- Amazon deforestation on pace to roughly match last year’s rate of loss
- Amazon deforestation in Brazil booms in August
Banner Image: Amazon rainforest in Brazil. Photo by Rhett A. Butler
Mike DiGirolamo is Mongabay’s audience engagement associate. Find him on Twitter @MikeDiGirolamo, Instagram or TikTok via @midigirolamo.
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Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors.A transcript has not been created for this podcast.
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