Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Amazonian forest degradation must be incorporated into the COP26 agenda

Nature Geoscience volume 14, pages 634–635 (2021)Cite this article

Subjects

To the Editor — Nations will reaffirm their commitment to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions during the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26; www.ukcop26.org), in Glasgow, Scotland, in November 2021. Revision of the national commitments will play a key role in defining the future of Earth’s climate. In past conferences, the main target of Amazonian nations was to reduce emissions resulting from land-use change and land management by committing to decrease deforestation rates, a well-known and efficient strategy1,2. However, human-induced forest degradation caused by fires, selective logging, and edge effects can also result in large carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions1,2,3,4,5, which are not yet explicitly reported by Amazonian countries. Despite its considerable impact, forest degradation has been largely overlooked in previous policy discussions5. It is vital that forest degradation is considered in the upcoming COP26 discussions and incorporated into future commitments to reduce GHG emissions.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Get just this article for as long as you need it

$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (that is, forest fires and edge effects) within the Brazilian Amazon.

References

  1. Aragão, L. E. O. C. et al. Nat. Commun. 9, 536 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Silva Junior, C. H. L. et al. Sci. Adv. 6, eaaz8360 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Assis, T. O. et al. Environ. Res. Lett. 15, 104035 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Harris, N. L. et al. Nat. Clim. Change 11, 234–240 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Asner, G. P. Science 310, 480–482 (2005).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Caviglia-Harris, J. et al. World Dev. 79, 82–96 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Barlow, J. et al. Nature 535, 144–147 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Matricardi, E. A. T. et al. Science 369, 1378–1382 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Vancutsem, C. et al. Sci. Adv. 7, eabe1603 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Silva, C. V. J. et al. Environ. Res. Lett. 15, 114023 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Silva Junior, C. H. L. et al. Nat. Ecol. Evol. 5, 144–145 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Lamb, D. Science 310, 1628–1632 (2005).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Heinrich, V. H. A. et al. Nat. Commun. 12, 1785 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Smith, C. C. et al. Environ. Res. Lett. 16, 085009 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Stabile, M. C. C. et al. Land Use Policy 91, 104362 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This study was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior – Brasil (CAPES) – Finance Code 001. N.S.C., A.C.M.P., J.B.C.R, P.M.F. and L.E.O.C.A. thank the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) for funding (processes 140379/2018-5, 140877/2018-5, 301597/2020-0, 311103/2015-4 and 305054/2016-3, respectively). A.P.-L. thanks the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP; process 2016/21043-8) for funding. V.H. was supported by a NERC GW4+ Doctoral Training Partnership studentship from the Natural Environment Research Council (NE/L002434/1). D.M.L. acknowledges funding from FAPESP (2015/02537-7) and from the AIMES (Analysis, Integration and Modelling of the Earth System) programme. A.A., C.S. and P.B. were funded by Global Wildlife Conservation (grant no. 5282.019-0285) and Climate Land Use Alliance (G-2010-57219). E.B. and J.B. were funded by the UK Research and Innovation (NE/S01084X/1) and the BNP Paribas Foundation (Bioclimate). J.F., E.B. and J.B. thank CNPq for funding (processes 441573/2020-7, 441659/2016-0, 441949/2018-5, and 420254/2018-8). L.O.A. thanks the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI; process SGP-HW 016), the CNPq (processes 441949/2018-5 and 442650/2018-3), and FAPESP (processes 2016/02018-2, 2019/05440-5, and 2018/14423-4) for funding. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. This Correspondence presents the personal views of the authors based on their scientific expertise but is not aimed at representing the official positions of their own organizations. Portuguese and Spanish versions of this Correspondence are provided at https://github.com/celsohlsj/ngeo_correspondence.

Author information

Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Celso H. L. Silva Junior, Nathália S. Carvalho, Ana C. M. Pessôa.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Tropical Ecosystems and Environmental Sciences Laboratory (TREES), São José dos Campos, São Paulo, Brazil

    Celso H. L. Silva Junior, Nathália S. Carvalho, Ana C. M. Pessôa, João B. C. Reis, Aline Pontes-Lopes, Juan Doblas, Wesley Campanharo, Henrique Cassol, Yosio E. Shimabukuro, Liana O. Anderson & Luiz E. O. C. Aragão

  2. Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE), São José dos Campos, São Paulo, Brazil

    Celso H. L. Silva Junior, Nathália S. Carvalho, Ana C. M. Pessôa, Aline Pontes-Lopes, Juan Doblas, Wesley Campanharo, Henrique Cassol, Luciana Gatti, Ana P. Aguiar, Yosio E. Shimabukuro & Luiz E. O. C. Aragão

  3. Universidade Estadual do Maranhão (UEMA), São Luís, Maranhão, Brazil

    Celso H. L. Silva Junior

  4. Centro Nacional de Monitoramento e Alertas de Desastres Naturais (CEMADEN), São José dos Campos, São Paulo, Brazil

    João B. C. Reis & Liana O. Anderson

  5. University of Bristol, Bristol, UK

    Viola Heinrich & Joanna House

  6. Instituto de Pesquisa Ambiental da Amazônia (IPAM), Brasília, Distrito Federal, Brazil

    Ane Alencar, Camila Silva & Paulo Brando

  7. Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil

    David M. Lapola

  8. Ecología del Paisaje y Modelación de Ecosistemas (ECOLMOD), Universidad Nacional de Colombia (UNAL), Bogota, Colombia

    Dolors Armenteras

  9. Universidade de Brasília, Brasília, Distrito Federal, Brazil

    Eraldo A. T. Matricardi

  10. University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Erika Berenguer

  11. Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK

    Camila Silva, Erika Berenguer & Jos Barlow

  12. South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD, USA

    Izaya Numata

  13. Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (EMBRAPA) Amazônia Oriental, Belém, Pará, Brazil

    Joice Ferreira

  14. University of California, Irvine, CA, USA

    Paulo Brando

  15. Woodwell Climate Research Center, Falmouth, MA, USA

    Paulo Brando

  16. Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (INPA), Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil

    Philip M. Fearnside

  17. Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, CA, USA

    Sassan Saatchi

  18. University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Sassan Saatchi

  19. Universidade Federal do Acre (UFAC), Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre, Brazil

    Sonaira Silva

  20. University of Exeter, Exeter, UK

    Stephen Sitch & Luiz E. O. C. Aragão

  21. Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden

    Ana P. Aguiar

  22. School of Forest, Fisheries, and Geomatics Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA

    Carlos A. Silva

  23. European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Ispra, VA, Italy

    Christelle Vancutsem, Frédéric Achard & René Beuchle

  24. Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Bogor, Indonesia

    Christelle Vancutsem

Authors
  1. Celso H. L. Silva Junior
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Nathália S. Carvalho
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Ana C. M. Pessôa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. João B. C. Reis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Aline Pontes-Lopes
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Juan Doblas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Viola Heinrich
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Wesley Campanharo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Ane Alencar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. Camila Silva
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  11. David M. Lapola
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  12. Dolors Armenteras
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  13. Eraldo A. T. Matricardi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  14. Erika Berenguer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  15. Henrique Cassol
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  16. Izaya Numata
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  17. Joanna House
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  18. Joice Ferreira
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  19. Jos Barlow
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  20. Luciana Gatti
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  21. Paulo Brando
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  22. Philip M. Fearnside
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  23. Sassan Saatchi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  24. Sonaira Silva
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  25. Stephen Sitch
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  26. Ana P. Aguiar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  27. Carlos A. Silva
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  28. Christelle Vancutsem
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  29. Frédéric Achard
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  30. René Beuchle
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  31. Yosio E. Shimabukuro
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  32. Liana O. Anderson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  33. Luiz E. O. C. Aragão
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Celso H. L. Silva Junior.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Peer review information Nature Geoscience thanks Gregory Asner for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Silva Junior, C.H.L., Carvalho, N.S., Pessôa, A.C.M. et al. Amazonian forest degradation must be incorporated into the COP26 agenda. Nat. Geosci. 14, 634–635 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-021-00823-z

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-021-00823-z

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing