In official visit to Hungary, Bolsonaro lies about environmental conservation

In a press statement about his talks with Hungarian President János Árder, Jair Bolsonaro lied once again about environmental conservation in Brazil by claiming that 63% of the country’s territory is preserved. 

According to data from the National Institute for Space Research (Inpe), in January, the Amazon hit a historical record of deforestation for the period, losing an area equivalent to 43,000 soccer fields.

Bolsonaro also questioned the country’s image as an “international villain” in the environmental agenda. “I had the opportunity to tell him what the Amazon represents for Brazil and for the world. And many times the information about this region reaches other places in a very distorted way, as if we were the great villains in on forest conservation and its destruction, something that does not exist,” he said.

Since 2019, under his administration, the country has registered successive records of deforestation in the Amazon, and became a constant target of international pressure around the issue.