Source: United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
Wildfires are becoming more intense, more frequent, and more destructive, stretching across continents, ecosystems, and communities.
In the 2023-2024 season, 3.9 million km² of land burned globally, with carbon emissions 16% above average. Major wildfire events included Canada’s worst season, with 150,000 km² burned and 232 thousand people evacuated, Greece’s largest wildfire on record (900 km²), and deadly fires in Hawaii and Chile, claiming over 200 lives, according to the State of Wildfires 2023-24: CAMS data support assessment – Copernicus. As we approach the 2025 fire season in the Northern Hemisphere, which typically runs from June to October, California has already faced devastating fires in January, outside the usual fire season.
This growing trend of longer and more intense fire seasons highlights that wildfires are no longer confined to a specific time of year, but are now a year-round global threat.
Wildfires are escalating into a global crisis, with far-reaching consequences for ecosystems, public health, and the climate. They worsen air pollution, increase carbon emissions, disrupt water supplies, and increase the risk of floods and landslides, compounding vulnerabilities in both rural and urban areas.
Recognizing this urgency, the UNECE/FAO Working Party on Forest Statistics, Economics and Management, a UN expert body that facilitates technical cooperation on forest data, management, and policy, and oversees expert teams working on these topics, brought together country delegates and experts to explore what is driving this crisis, what it is doing to our forests, and what can be done to manage it.
Fire is not always an enemy. It has long played a vital role in many forest ecosystems, clearing dead vegetation, recycling nutrients, and fostering diversity. Some forest types even depend on periodic burns to regenerate. When strategically managed, including through practices like controlling and prescribed burning, fire becomes a powerful tool to maintain healthy forests and reduce the risk of larger, more destructive wildfires.
The balance, however, is shifting. Driven primarily by climate change, wildfires are now pushing ecosystems to their limits. Longer dry seasons, hotter temperatures, and erratic weather are turning manageable fires into landscape-scale disasters.
As countries prepare for the 2025 UN Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC COP30) in Belém, Brazil, the session emphasized that wildfire risk must be integrated into climate strategies. Forests are a key line of defense against global warming, but only if they are protected and managed sustainably.
The session concluded with a clear message: a proactive, data-driven, and climate-smart approach is essential.
Stronger forest resilience measures are needed, including sustainable management, landscape restoration, and fuel load reduction through prescribed burns. Increased investment in firefighting capacity and improved land-use planning are also crucial to protect communities in fire-prone areas.
Experts highlighted the importance of cross-border collaboration, citing initiatives like the Global Fire Management Hub and tools such as EFFIS and INForest to support data collection and evidence-based policies.
The path forward must recognize fire’s dual role: as both a threat and a tool in building resilient forest landscapes.
Resources and further reading