India's resolution on wildfires gains traction at UNEA-7

A draft resolution on strengthening the global response to wildfires, one of the 15 key texts being negotiated at the seventh UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-7), opened to broad support on Monday, even as delegations signalled early fault lines around finance and the framing of wildfire risk within climate and biodiversity strategies.

- SV KRISHNA CHAITANYA @Nairobi

Delegates attend the opening plenary of UNEA-7 in Nairobi, Kenya on Monday | UNEP

(UNEP)

The resolution, led by India and backed by a wide cross-regional group, seeks to anchor international cooperation on wildfire prevention, preparedness, and ecological recovery at a time when extreme fire events are rising across continents.

UN Environment Programme and Grid-Arendal jointly produced a report, “Spreading Like Wildfire: The Rising Threat of Extraordinary Landscape Fires”, which projects fires could increase by up to 50% by the end of the century, with profound implications for biodiversity, air quality, climate mitigation, and public health. The resolution draws from this science and responds to calls for a coordinated, “fire-ready” global framework.