Amazon deforestation report is major setback for Brazil ahead of climate talks

Report showing 16% increase in tree destruction underscores climate threat and is a disappointing result for government efforts to combat deforestation

Trees covering an area more than seven times the territory of New York City have been cleared in the Brazilian Amazon over the past year, in a major setback for government efforts to combat deforestation.

Related: Half of tree species in the Amazon at risk of extinction, say scientists