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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Environment
Patrick Greenfield

Destruction of world’s pristine rainforests soared in 2022 despite Cop26 pledge

A burnt area of the Amazonia rainforest in Apui, southern Amazonas State, Brazil, in September 2022.
A devastated area of the Amazonia rainforest in southern Amazonas State, Brazil, in September 2022. Photograph: Michael Dantas/AFP/Getty Images

An area the size of Switzerland was cleared from Earth’s most pristine rainforests in 2022, despite promises by world leaders to halt their destruction, new figures show.

From the Bolivian Amazon to Ghana, the equivalent of 11 football pitches of primary rainforest were destroyed every minute last year as the planet’s most carbon-dense and biodiverse ecosystems were cleared for cattle ranching, agriculture and mining, with Indigenous forest communities forced from their land by extractive industries in some countries.

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