Increased logging activity has been reported from Brazil, Colombia, Cambodia, Indonesia, Nepal and Madagascar since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mongabay News, July, 2020

Why now

Reduced monitoring by enforcement agencies due to the social upheaval caused by the pandemic are believed to be contributing to the rise in illegal logging.

More to come

Environmental groups such as the Rainforest Foundation Norway, are concerned the pandemic-induced economic recession will justify the deregulation of businesses involved in natural resources on the part of governments under pressure to pursue a “less green” economic recovery.

The Amazon is no longer the lungs of the world

The environmental damage from such a short-term economic hit will play out for future generations. A report in Nature says the Amazon rainforest is now emitting more carbon than it absorbs.

The 19 co-authors behind the Nature study assert that the Amazon is putting out around one billion tonnes of carbon dioxide more a year than it can absorb. The emissions are due mainly to fires lit by loggers to clear the land to graze cattle or grow crops.

Eight years of aerial surveillance over the Brazilian rainforest measuring carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide shows while the fires produced 1.5B tonnes of CO2 per year, new growth could only remove around 0.5B tonnes.

Average regions of influence (2010–2018), delimited by light-blue lines according to the density of HYSPLIT back-trajectories
Source: Amazonia as a carbon source linked to deforestation and climate change

Damage bill

Deforestation across multiple sites has a significant impact on global biodiversity as indigenous animals and other plants are also directly impacted by the fires or subsequently from the loss of habitat. This marked acceleration in the factors contributing to climate change and the associated loss of habitat for flora and fauna emphasises the acceleration of the climate and resource security megatrend.

Megatrends watch: climate and resource security

Subverting
Stable
Accelerating

This update is part of our Megatrends Watch series, which tracks developments that inform our six global megatrends….

Image: Vlad Hilitanu

Related content

Food security starts with food sovereignty

The UN's Zero Hunger goal faces challenges in West Papua, where palm oil plantations are erasing Indigenous foodways - could a food sovereignty framework help balance development, culture, and sustainability?

Making room for the rivers

When deciding if they should live with or fight the floods, Australia and many other countries can learn from the Netherlands.

What are megatrends and how they are shaping the future of business?

Impactful Technology

Accelerating individualisation

Demographic change
Rapid urbanisation
Climate and resource security
Economic power shift