Brazil's Climate Conundrum: Historic Drop in Emissions Masks a Deepening Crisis

Wazzup Pilipinas?! 

 

Brazil has achieved a monumental, yet precarious, climate victory: its gross greenhouse gas emissions plummeted by an astonishing 16.7% in 2024, the largest single drop in 16 years and the second largest reduction since measurements began in 1990. This dramatic decline, highlighted in the 13th edition of the SEEG (Greenhouse Gas Emissions Estimates System) from the Observatório do Clima, is a direct result of renewed deforestation control efforts.

However, the celebratory headline is quickly eclipsed by a sobering reality: despite this historic achievement, Brazil is still projected to fall short of its 2025 climate target under the Paris Agreement. Mitigation efforts are currently "shouldered by deforestation control" alone, while emissions from nearly every other sector—agriculture, energy, industrial processes, and waste—continue their alarming rise, threatening to undermine all progress.

The Deforestation Triumph and the Largest Drop in History

The key to the 2024 success lies in the drastic reduction of emissions from Land-Use Change and Forests, primarily driven by a decline in deforestation in the Amazon and Cerrado. This decline was spurred by enforcement actions from Ibama (the federal environmental agency).

Gross Emissions Decline: Emissions from this sector saw the largest reduction ever recorded: 32.5%. Gross emissions fell from 1.341 GtCO 2​e to 906 MtCO 2e.

Net Emissions Plunge: Net emissions from land-use change—calculated after discounting carbon removals by secondary forests and protected areas —fell even more dramatically by 64%, the largest reduction in history.

This massive drop propelled Brazil's gross emissions from 2.576 GtCO 2e in 2023 to 2.145 GtCO2

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 e in 2024. As a result, the Land-Use Change sector ceased to be Brazil's main source of net emissions, falling from 35% to 17% of the total.

The Hidden Climate Threat: Sectoral Rises and the Fire-Drought Decoupling

While the government celebrates success in the forests, the rest of the economy tells a different, bleaker story.

Sectoral Emissions Are Rising

In all other sectors of the economy, emissions either remained stable or increased.

The nearly stable agriculture sector rose from 33% to 42% of total net emissions, becoming the single largest source in 2024. Cattle ranching remains the most polluting economic activity, accounting for 51% of total emissions, primarily through methane released from enteric fermentation (the "cow burp").

Fire, Drought, and Climate Change Interference

In a startling finding, the SEEG team observed that emissions from deforestation fell sharply in the same year that Brazil recorded the largest burned area in its history due to severe drought.

For the first time, non-inventoried emissions from fires not associated with deforestation (241 MtCO 2e) were virtually equivalent to all net emissions from land-use change (249 MtCO2e).

If these fires were officially accounted for, they would double Brazil's net deforestation emissions in 2024.

Researchers noted a "decoupling between these two processes that normally go hand in hand—fire and deforestation". This suggests that climate change may already be dangerously interfering with forests , threatening that "even with zero deforestation, Brazil could still lose a significant portion of the Amazon".

Off-Track from the NDC Target

The combined effect of a single sector's success (Land-Use) and widespread failures in all others leaves Brazil dangerously off-track from its climate commitments.

2025 NDC Target: Brazil aims to limit net emissions to 1.32 billion tons of CO2 equivalent (GtCO 2e).

2025 Projection: Based on current trends, Brazil is expected to end 2025 with 1.44 GtCO 2e in net emissions, 9% above its target.

"Deforestation is falling, but all the other sectors are rising," said David Tsai, SEEG Coordinator. He warned that the capacity of deforestation control to deliver emission cuts is "reaching its ceiling" and urged that reductions are also critically needed in the energy and agricultural sectors to meet the 2030 goal.

Government Roadblocks Threaten Future Progress

Paradoxically, the Observatório do Clima points to government-supported infrastructure and energy projects that could undermine the hard-won climate progress.

Highway and Rail Projects: The paving of the BR-319 highway and the construction of the Ferrogrão railway pose significant threats by pressuring forests and potentially encouraging deforestation and soybean expansion in the Amazon.

Fossil Fuel Expansion: Brazil is undermining the Paris Agreement by planning a major expansion in oil production, symbolized by the authorization to drill at the mouth of the Amazon River.

The expansion of the fossil fuel industry is deemed incompatible with keeping global warming below 1.5 ∘C by the IEA and UNEP.

Furthermore, Brazil's record crude oil exports result in "invisible" emissions—carbon released when the oil is burned elsewhere—which still contribute to climate impacts like extreme forest fires.

"We find ourselves with a government that gives with one hand and takes with the other," said Claudio Angelo, head of International Policy at the Climate Observatory. "Climate policy isn't a buffet where you can pick and choose. If it isn't comprehensive, the atmosphere will let us know—and in the worst possible way, as we saw in 2024".

Power, Planet, and the Press: Journalists at the Forefront of the Planetary Health Crisis

Wazzup Pilipinas!? 

Sunway University, Malaysia—September 2025

In a world where environmental collapse and human well-being are inextricably linked, the truth is often buried under layers of political jargon, corporate spin, and fragmented global agreements. This was the battlefield explored at the recent Capacity Development and Training Workshop on Planetary Health and Power (Workshop 03/25), where thirty journalists from across Asia gathered to forge a new approach to climate reporting.

The central theme was stark: the planetary health crisis is not merely an environmental challenge—it’s a crisis of power, politics, and accountability. The two-day workshop, hosted by Sunway University and supported by partners like the Global Climate and Health Alliance (GCHA) and Internews, aimed to equip media professionals with the tools to decode complex intergovernmental processes and translate global policy into urgent local narratives.

Unmasking the Power Imbalances in Global Governance

The training didn't just cover the mechanics of global summits like COPs; it challenged the assumption that these are neutral spaces. Expert speakers reinforced the idea that negotiations are "arenas where economic and political interests compete," and their outcomes often reflect the power imbalances among member states.

The UN's Strength and Weakness: The United Nations remains the only global platform for collective action, yet it is "only as strong as its member states". Journalists were urged to look beyond the diplomatic veneer and investigate the gap between high-level commitments and real-world action.

The Shadow of Finance: Finance emerged as the defining issue of trust. Participants learned that climate funding for developing countries often arrives as conditional loans that deepen debt burdens, rather than grants. This financial architecture, experts stressed, must be interrogated to expose disparities between what is pledged and who ultimately benefits.

Challenging the 'Global North' Narrative: A critical takeaway was the urgent need to decolonise storytelling. This means challenging the dominance of Western perspectives, using accessible language, and foregrounding local and Indigenous voices over diplomatic soundbites.

Health as the Ultimate Narrative Weapon

In the face of 'COP fatigue' and complex science, the workshop identified health as the most effective and relatable entry point for climate storytelling.

Framing stories through the lens of mental, physical, or societal health allows journalists to instantly connect the planetary crisis to lived human experience. Discussions highlighted how environmental crises manifest as health emergencies:

Extreme Heat and Mental Health: The complexity and urgency of issues like extreme heat affecting brain and reproductive health, and the stigma around eco-anxiety and climate-linked PTSD were spotlighted.

Data Gaps as the Story: Journalists were encouraged to see the absence of reliable data on issues like mental health or local adaptation impacts as a story of systemic neglect that warrants investigation.

Beyond the Hospital: Coverage should move past simply discussing hospitals and infrastructure to address systemic issues like pollution and corporate accountability. Journalists must scrutinise "health washing"—where progress in the health sector is showcased in isolation to appear more meaningful than it is.

The Fight for Truth in the Age of Spin

A recurring concern was the severe erosion of trust caused by disinformation, greenwashing, and selective reporting. The sessions provided concrete strategies for the media's watchdog role:

Following the Money: Participants were advised to investigate the financial transactions and political networks behind greenwashing claims. Tender documents and Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) were cited as key sources to uncover false claims and verify facts with independent experts.

Continuous Coverage: A core lesson was that COPs and other summits cannot be treated as isolated events. Meaningful journalism requires sustained coverage before, during, and after negotiations to track policy implementation, financial follow-through, and community impact.

The Simulation Crucible: Two newsroom simulations, including one focused on managing disinformation in a post-COP biodiversity scenario, forced participants to apply critical thinking under intense pressure. These exercises demonstrated that effective environmental journalism demands not just factual accuracy, but also editorial judgment and ethical sensitivity.

A Call for Accountable and Actionable Journalism

By the workshop's close, the thirty participating journalists from outlets spanning India to the Philippines left with a clear mandate: their power lies in distilling complexity into clarity, amplifying marginalised voices, and sustaining pressure for accountability long after the headlines fade.

Survey feedback confirmed the impact: 100 percent of participants would recommend the training, and 92 percent expressed confidence in understanding and reporting on intergovernmental processes. The blend of conceptual grounding and hands-on newsroom practice was cited as especially effective in translating complex policy dynamics into actionable story ideas.

The message was clear: While international negotiations are complicated, the journalism that tracks them must be simple, relentless, and firmly rooted in justice and human resilience.

DepEd calls for full funding of education mandates to address functional illiteracy

Wazzup Pilipinas!? 

PASIG CITY, 3 November 2025 - The Department of Education (DepEd) is calling for the continued fulfillment of the Constitution’s mandate that education remain the highest budgetary priority, emphasizing that addressing the country’s literacy challenges requires funding that matches the actual costs and scale of its expanding responsibilities. 

DepEd noted that while its mandate has steadily broadened since its inception, resources have not always kept pace. Certain landmark laws —such as the ARAL Program Act, the Career Progression System for Public School Teachers and School Leaders, the Basic Education Mental Health and Well-Being Promotion Act, and the Alternative Learning System Act—were enacted lacking or without sustained financial support, making implementation difficult. 

“While responsibilities grew, resources did not always follow,” Education Secretary Sonny Angara said. “We have been spread too thinly. We must reclaim our focus on foundational learning, consistent with the intentions of the first EDCOM in the 1990s.” 

This cumulative burden, which has stretched the Department’s resources and impacted its focus, was a central finding presented during the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2) hearing on October 28, 2025.  

During the hearing, Sec. Angara reaffirmed DepEd’s commitment to focus on functional literacy and improved learning outcomes, as directed by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. even as the Department grapples with multiplied mandates, limited funds, stretched coordination, and resource gaps. 

To unburden the agency, DepEd is playing an active role in shaping the Education and Workforce Development Group (EWDG) under the Office of the President, which will serve as the coordinating body for education and labor agencies. The Department has also assigned its Executive Committee members to lead engagement in high-impact and “mission-aligned” coordinating bodies only such as inclusive education, education-to-employment efforts, and curriculum review and revision.  

To support its push for foundational learning, DepEd successfully procured 60 new textbook titles in the past two years alone, compared with 27 titles from 2012 to 2023, representing a 122% increase. Since assuming office, Sec. Angara has also pursued forward-looking initiatives to build more classrooms, including Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) and flexible participation options for local government units (LGUs) and civil society organizations (CSOs). 

These efforts are reinforced by reforms already underway within DepEd, such as the rollout of the streamlined and strengthened K to 10 and Senior High School curriculum, nationwide teacher and school head training programs, and the integration of education technology and digitalization across schools and divisions. To ease administrative burdens, DepEd has also deployed additional administrative officers in schools, allowing teachers to concentrate more on teaching rather than paperwork. 

While pursuing long-term solutions to fulfill its mandates, DepEd has also taken immediate steps to sustain programs that remain lacking in funds. The Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning (ARAL) Program) alone requires ₱9.6 billion, with a ₱3.3 billion funding gap for 2026. To keep the program running, the Department reprogrammed internal savings and allocated ₱1.8 billion to cover the printing of tutorial modules and teacher training for its initial rollout. 

“Sustained reform requires sustained support. We must never forget our bottom line: a Filipino learner who can read and comprehend,” Sec. Angara added.