In 2024, approximately 308 million acres of wilderness were burned in Brazil (+79% compared to 2023), an area larger than Italy. For the first time, forests, which are harder to recover, were burned more extensively than grasslands, with 58% of the burned area in the Amazon, one of the planet’s most vital ecosystems.
Specifically, 24% of this was in the state of Pará (located in the Amazon), whose capital, Belém, will host COP30, the UN Climate Summit, in November. The area burned in the Amazon in 2024 alone was larger than the total burned area across the entire country in 2023.
These figures come as Brazil prepares to host the UN Climate Summit, COP30, in November.
The destruction is linked to the worst drought Brazil has experienced since 1950, which has been worsened by the El Niño weather phenomenon, which warms the central and eastern waters of the Pacific. However, human activity also plays a role, particularly livestock companies that set fire to forest areas to create grazing land, as well as arson. In 2024, the police launched 119 investigations into suspected arson, a number higher than the average of previous years, which was 70. Scientists say that a period of heavy rainfall would be needed to restore lands affected by the fires, but this has not yet occurred in Brazil.
