From Wildfire Risk to Resilience The Investment Case for Action 2026

Africa Asia Australia & Oceania Europe North America South America0100200300Burned area (million ha) Region 2014 2024241 222 48 2637312314 14 164579 Source: European Commission, Joint Research Centre. (n.d.). GWIS — Seasonal trend statistics. https://gwis.jrc.ec.europa.eu/apps/gwis.statistics/seasonaltrend. Shifts in fire-weather conditions and severity ratings partially explain differences in burned areas. Africa had the largest burned area (Figure 4), at approximately 222 million hectares in 2024, with the burned area about 8% lower in 2024 than in 2014. Perhaps most concerning, South America shows the largest difference between reference years, with burned area around 76% higher in 2024 than in 2014. This is particularly concerning given the sensitivity of Amazon and Cerrado systems to climate variability and land-use pressures.29 In 2024, Europe and Asia recorded lower burned areas compared to 2014, while North America’s totals remained at similar levels, amid longer fire seasons and rising severity.FIGURE 4 Burned area by region (2014 vs. 2024)Within the 2014 and 2024 reference years, severity ratings (Figure 3) were higher in 2024 than in 2014 for Africa, Europe, North America and South America, indicating more fire-conducive weather conditions in 2024 for these regions. Severity ratings were lower in 2024 than in 2014 for Asia and Oceania, indicating slightly less severe fire- weather conditions in 2024 compared to 2014 in those regions. From Wildfire Risk to Resilience: The Investment Case for Action 8