Sunday, 1 November 2026 New DelhiLondonNew YorkDubaiTokyo
INDEPENDENT THINKING.
SHARED UNDERSTANDING.International edition · Correspondents across India and around the world
RationalTimes●
A little less noise.
A little more perspective. Subscribe
BREAKING
TechBinance hack: about $6.4bn stolen and $2.7bn frozen, analysts say MarketsChristine Lagarde to step down as ECB president on 7 February 2027 EuropeSpain observes three days of mourning after the Toledo high-speed train crash UNUN Security Council holds its seventh straw poll for the next Secretary-General IsraelIsrael: near-final count gives Netanyahu’s bloc 53 seats and Eisenkot’s 48; official results on 4 November ClimateCOP31 climate talks open in Antalya, Türkiye, on 9 November USAmericans vote in the midterm elections on 3 November TechnologyNorth Korea-linked hackers steal about $6.4 billion from Binance in the biggest crypto theft on record, analysts say WorldSpain mourns after a high-speed train ploughs into a stationary train near Toledo, killing at least 68 WorldIsrael’s election ends without a clear winner as exit polls leave both blocs short of a majority WorldSaudi Arabia intercepts Houthi missiles and drones as Egypt’s parliament backs military support PoliticsLula wins Brazil’s presidential runoff as Flávio Bolsonaro concedes
AnalysisClimateBrazil

Can a standing forest be worth more than a felled one?

Brazil is testing whether an economy can be built around keeping the Amazon intact, and whether the world will help pay for it.

By Rational Times Editorial · 1 min read
An aerial view of rainforest. Representational image.
An aerial view of rainforest. Representational image.Photo: Pexels

The Amazon has been valued, for generations, only when cut down. The timber, the pasture, the soy, all convert a living forest into a commodity. The question Brazil is testing is whether a standing forest can be made worth more.

The mechanisms are various: carbon markets, payments for conservation, sustainable industries that depend on the forest remaining. Each carries promise, and each carries the risk of becoming another way to extract.

The forest’s value to the climate is global, but the cost of protecting it is local. A durable answer requires the world that benefits to share the cost, not merely to demand the outcome.

Whether a forest can be worth more alive than dead is, in the end, a question about what an economy is for. Brazil is asking it. The answer belongs to everyone.

AmericasBrazilEnvironment
Report an error in this story

Comments (0)

Comment policy

Related stories

See all