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February 25,2022

Andrew Campbell 

According to a report released on February 23 by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and GRID-Arendal, a non-profit environmental communications center based in Norway, wildfires are expected to increase by 50% by the end of the century as a result of climate change and land-use change. The report "Spreading Like Wildfire: The Rising Threat of Extraordinary Landscape Fires" is being issued ahead of the UN Environment Assembly's (UNEA-5.2) restarted 5th session, which will take place in Nairobi from February 28 to March 2.

Under climate change and land-use change, the report predicts a global rise in extreme fires of up to 14% by 2030, 30% by the end of 2050, and 50% by the end of the century. Wildfires are now burning longer and hotter in places where they have traditionally burned; at the same time, fires are sparking and spreading in unexpected places, such as marshes, drying peatlands, and thawing permafrost in the Arctic.

Tim Christophersen, the Coordinator of the ‘Nature for Climate’ Branch at the UN Environment Programme, recommends that nations adopt a "fire ready formula," which entails shifting resources away from response and toward prevention, preparedness, and recovery. Furthermore, in order to aid other countries, governments must improve regional and international collaboration.