Sources: Brazil withheld deforestation data ’til COP26’s end

By DÉBORA ÁLVARES
Associated Press

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — Senior officials say Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro and Environment Minister Joaquim Leite both knew the Amazon region’s annual deforestation rate had surged before the U.N. climate talks in Glasgow. But the two kept results quiet to avoid hampering negotiations Three Cabinet ministers as well as a coordinator at the institute that compiles the data said the annual deforestation report was available on the government’s information system before talks in Glasgow began on Oct 31. Six days earlier, Bolsonaro and several ministers discussed the results and determined they wouldn’t be released until after the climate conference.