Timorleste Environment - 2024

Environment - current issues

air pollution and deterioration of air quality; greenhouse gas emissions; water quality, scarcity, and access; land and soil degradation; forest depletion; widespread use of slash and burn agriculture has led to deforestation and soil erosion; loss of biodiversity

Environment - international agreements

party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Desertification, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection

signed, but not ratified: Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban

Climate

tropical; hot, humid; distinct rainy and dry seasons

Land use

agricultural land: 25.1% (2018 est.)

arable land: 10.1% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 4.9% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 10.1% (2018 est.)

forest: 49.1% (2018 est.)

other: 25.8% (2018 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 32.5% of total population (2023)

rate of urbanization: 3.31% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Revenue from forest resources

0.13% of GDP (2018 est.)

Revenue from coal

0% of GDP (2018 est.)

Air pollutants

particulate matter emissions: 20.47 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)

carbon dioxide emissions: 0.5 megatons (2016 est.)

methane emissions: 4.74 megatons (2020 est.)

Waste and recycling

municipal solid waste generated annually: 63,875 tons (2016 est.)

Total water withdrawal

municipal: 100 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

industrial: 2 million cubic meters (2017 est.)

agricultural: 1.07 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

Total renewable water resources

8.22 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)