India's resolution on wildfires gains traction at UNEA-7 with mounting biodiversity losses
NAIROBI: 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. 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 dramatically across continents. United Nations 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. India called for collective action while insisting that decisions remain rooted in equity, common but differentiated responsibilities (CBDR), and full respect for national circumstances. The intervention set the tone for negotiations, where several countries expressed unease with prescriptive language that would require integrating wildfire risk reduction into national climate plans or biodiversity strategies. Despite these concerns, the draft enjoys wide consensus on the need for strengthened early warning systems, community-centred fire management, regional cooperation on transboundary smoke and fire events, and recognition of Indigenous Peoples knowledge in landscape stewardship. The proposal to mandate UNEP to develop a Global Framework for Forest Fire Managementcovering risk mapping, satellite monitoring, rapid response mechanisms, and capacity-buildingwas particularly well received. However, finance remains a heavily bracketed section of the wildfire resolution, with negotiators working through multiple options for how UNEA should reference international support, sources told TNIE. Several paragraphs addressing assistance for countries in mobilising and accessing resources from international financial institutions, the Green Climate Fund, and other relevant funds continue to attract diverging views, especially where specific mechanisms are listed. Text highlighting nature credits, payments for ecosystem services, green bonds, climate-linked finance, and insurance instruments also appears in bracketsdelegations remain split on whether these should be included at all or referenced only in general terms. Brackets likewise surround proposals that UNEP or the Global Fire Management Hub support countries in preparing projects and finance-ready proposals, with some delegations insisting this assistance must be provided strictly upon request. Other bracketed options extend this support specifically to developing countries, including those in arid and semi-arid landscapes, where wildfire recovery financing is described in the text as remaining underdeveloped. Sources said member states, particularly developed countries, were urged to continue and enhance mobilisation of financial resources to assist developing nations with integrated fire management and wildfire resilience. This language also remains under negotiation, reflecting broader debates on whether differentiated expectations for developed countries should be reflected in the final text. Overall, delegations are still working to determine the scope and clarity of financial references, the role of UNEP and related entities in supporting access to funds, and whether the final text should explicitly signal differentiated responsibilities. Wildfires affect nearly 100 million hectares each year, destroying carbon sinks, worsening air pollution, and threatening livelihoods, especially in developing countries. But, the global spending remains skewed towards firefighting rather than prevention and resilience-building, a gap the resolution aims to correct. In India, forest fire incidents rose sharply in 202425, with over 2.38 lakh alerts recorded nationwide and a steep 56% increase in Maharashtra alone, as per the official data presented by the Union environment ministry in the Parliament last week. With most delegations signalling willingness to work toward consensus, negotiators say the resolution is well-positioned for adoption, provided compromises emerge on finance wording and the references tying wildfire governance to climate and biodiversity planning.
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