Sustainable development key to limiting climate change-driven wildfire damages

Hwong Y-L, Byers E, Werning M, Quilcaille Y. 2025. Sustainable development key to limiting climate change-driven wildfire damages. Environmental Research: Climate. 4(3), 035005.

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Journal Article | Published | English

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Author
Hwong, Yi-LingISTA ; Byers, Edward; Werning, Michaela; Quilcaille, Yann

Corresponding author has ISTA affiliation

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Abstract
Climate change is causing wildfires to become more frequent and intense. While predicting burned areas using bioclimatic and anthropogenic factors is an active research area, few studies have examined what drives the economic damages of wildfires. Our study aims to fill this gap by analyzing key factors influencing global economic wildfire damages and projecting future damages under three shared socioeconomic pathways (SSPs). We apply regression analyses to identify significant predictors of economic wildfire damages at country levels and use the fitted model to project future damages under SSP126, SSP245, and SSP370. Results show that the human vulnerability index (HVI), reflecting socioeconomic conditions, is the strongest predictor of historical wildfire damages, followed by water vapor pressure deficit during the fire season and population density around forested areas. We found high population density to be associated with lower damages. These findings contrast with studies of burned areas, where climate factors are more dominant. Our model projects that by 2070, average global economic wildfire damages will be three times higher under SSP370 than SSP126. Our model also shows that following SSP126 not only reduces wildfire damages but also lessens the inequalities in damage distribution across countries. This pathway’s dual focus on equitable socioeconomic progress and climate action potentially enhances a country’s resilience that helps mitigate wildfire damages. Our analyses also indicate that strong socioeconomic development can offset wildfire damages associated with climate hazards, although this is less certain under SSP370. SSP126’s integrated approach improves both socioeconomic conditions and limits global warming, providing substantial benefits to less developed countries while still reducing damages in developed nations, despite their already low HVI scores. Our work complements existing research on burned areas and underscores the importance of sustainable development and international collaboration in reducing the economic damages of wildfires.
Publishing Year
Date Published
2025-07-15
Journal Title
Environmental Research: Climate
Publisher
IOP Publishing
Acknowledgement
We thank Marina Andrijevic, Giacomo Falchetta, Samuel Lüthi, Caroline Muller, Carl Schleussner, and Adriano Vinca for providing useful ideas and feedback for this work. YLH is supported by funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska‐Curie Grant No. 101034413. EB, MW, and YQ are supported by the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement No. 101081369 (SPARCCLE). We also thank the two anonymous reviewers for providing helpful feedback that greatly improved this manuscript.
Volume
4
Issue
3
Article Number
035005
eISSN
IST-REx-ID

Cite this

Hwong Y-L, Byers E, Werning M, Quilcaille Y. Sustainable development key to limiting climate change-driven wildfire damages. Environmental Research: Climate. 2025;4(3). doi:10.1088/2752-5295/adec11
Hwong, Y.-L., Byers, E., Werning, M., & Quilcaille, Y. (2025). Sustainable development key to limiting climate change-driven wildfire damages. Environmental Research: Climate. IOP Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1088/2752-5295/adec11
Hwong, Yi-Ling, Edward Byers, Michaela Werning, and Yann Quilcaille. “Sustainable Development Key to Limiting Climate Change-Driven Wildfire Damages.” Environmental Research: Climate. IOP Publishing, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1088/2752-5295/adec11.
Y.-L. Hwong, E. Byers, M. Werning, and Y. Quilcaille, “Sustainable development key to limiting climate change-driven wildfire damages,” Environmental Research: Climate, vol. 4, no. 3. IOP Publishing, 2025.
Hwong Y-L, Byers E, Werning M, Quilcaille Y. 2025. Sustainable development key to limiting climate change-driven wildfire damages. Environmental Research: Climate. 4(3), 035005.
Hwong, Yi-Ling, et al. “Sustainable Development Key to Limiting Climate Change-Driven Wildfire Damages.” Environmental Research: Climate, vol. 4, no. 3, 035005, IOP Publishing, 2025, doi:10.1088/2752-5295/adec11.
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2025-08-04
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