Brazil unlikely to make major deforestation pledge

Brazil is unlikely to make a pledge to reach net zero deforestation in an expected climate change declaration with the United States.

But it will probably try to stop some of the root causes of deforestation in Brazil, which hosts the world’s largest tropical forest, Reuters reported.

{mosads}Large forests work to trap carbon dioxide, which can significantly reduce the prevalence of the most common greenhouse gas.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff is visiting President Obama next week, and the countries are planning a climate declaration in advance of the United Nations climate deal due for finalization in Paris in December.

Brazilian Foreign Ministry official Carlos Paranhos told journalists Thursday that his country wants the text to “indicate what the two countries are willing to do to ensure the summit is fruitful,” according to Reuters.

Deforestation has fallen sharply in Brazil over the last decade, but 2,000 square miles are still lost each year.

Experts told Reuters that environmentalists’ goal of net zero deforestation is very unlikely, but the United States government can nonetheless help the effort.

“They can put pressure on American corporations to stop buying anything that has links to illegally deforested land,” Tasso Azevedo, a forestry and climate consultant in Sao Paulo, told Reuters.