Climate threatGlobal challenges

Illustration image of indigenous people in the Amazon Edmar Barros / AP  

 

Climate threatGlobal challenges 

Concerns for the Amazon: "Near tipping point - could become savannah"  

 

Just under a quarter of Brazil's total rainforest area has already disappeared - if emissions and deforestation continue at the same rate as in the last decade, another area the size of France is at risk of disappearing.  

 

This is evident from a study from the World Resources Institute (WRI) and New Climate Economy, which the news agency AFP has seen.  

 

The researchers make the assessment that the Amazon may soon reach a tipping point where the rainforest becomes a source of carbon dioxide emissions instead of reducing the levels of the greenhouse gas.  

 

"The rainforest could become a savannah that fuels global warming and disrupts rainfall across South America," write researchers Rafael Feltran-Barbieri, Bruno Felin and Alex Simpkins, who state that several parts of the rainforest "have already reached that point."  

Lula da Silva and the Amazon. TT/AP  

 

Climate threatGlobal challenges 

Brazil can earn billions from the green wave 

 

Brazil has the potential to earn many billions and create hundreds of thousands of new jobs from the green transition, writes TT. Brazil's GDP can grow by roughly SEK 90 billion annually if the country invests in sustainable industries and protecting the Amazon, according to a study by the World Resources Institute (WRI) and New Climate Economy.  

 

At the same time, the study warns that failed investments will have devastating consequences. If nothing is changed, the entire rainforest may soon reach its "tipping point", which means that the Amazon will become a source of carbon dioxide emissions instead of reducing the levels of the greenhouse gas.