Today is World Environment Day and the Government of Brazil celebrated by dancing to an old tune. In a press conference held today in Brasilia, the government rereleased old Amazon deforestation figures and late plans to fight climate change in an attempt to paint a picture that all is well in the Amazon.
This is far from the truth.
The Government presented the figures for deforestation in the Amazon between August 2011 and July 2012, a record low, 4.571 km2. However, this low came after a long period of wholesale destruction in the Amazon.
Instead of releasing old news, the Brazilian government could have used World Environment Day to explain how they will deal with the current increase in deforestation trends, as recently released data based on satellite images shows.