The world’s tropics lost 11.1M hectares of tree cover in 2021, with 3.75M hectares in humid tropical primary forests, according to the Global Forest Watch Report released Thursday.

This loss resulted in 2.5B tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions in 2021, and that’s the same amount as India’s annual fossil fuel emissions.

Over 40% of tropical primary forest loss in 2021 occurred in Brazil, a total of 1.5M hectares.

This is especially concerning since new evidence reveals the Amazon rainforest is losing resilience and may be closer to a tipping point than previously thought.

The report does also have good news, however – Indonesia’s rate of primary forest loss declined for the fifth straight year, falling by 25% compared to 2020.

Another year of decline indicates that Indonesia is heading in the right direction to meet some of its climate commitments.

The news is significant given the pledge made last year at COP26 in Glasgow, signed by 141 countries, to collectively “halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030 while delivering sustainable development.”

Environmental activists are voicing concerns that this pledge isn’t being met, given the continued unabated destruction of the world’s forests.

Agencies/Reports.