Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the rate of deforestation of the Amazon rainforest in each of the last six years.

Deforestation in the Amazon in Brazil has increased at a worrying rate since 2018, with a 22% increase in deforested area recorded between 2020 and 2021. This is the highest rate in 15 years. For the first time since monitoring began in 1988 deforestation rates have increased over four consecutive years.

At COP26 the Prime Minister committed £300 million to help protect the rainforest throughout the Amazonian biome through the International Climate Finance Programme. This has already helped avoid the clearance of 430,000 acres of forest. The UK welcomed Brazil's commitments made at COP26, including its signature of the Glasgow Leaders' Declaration on Forests and Land Use, and pledges to eliminate illegal deforestation by 2028 and halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030. It is important that the implementation process of these pledges begins this year. As President of COP26, the UK recognises its role as a key partner in supporting the realisation of these goals. We will continue to work with the Brazilian Federal Government, state level leadership, the private sector and civil society, to help them tackle deforestation and protect the Amazon.