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 Management—covering risk mapping, satellite monitoring, rapid response mechanisms, and capacity-building—was particularly well received.