Taming wildfires in the context of climate change: The case of Portugal
The frequency and severity of extreme wildfires are on the rise in Portugal, causing
unprecedented disruption and increasingly challenging the country’s capacity to contain
losses and damages. These challenges are set to keep growing in the context of climate
change, highlighting the need to scale up wildfire prevention and climate change adaptation.
This paper provides an overview of Portugal’s wildfire policies and practices and
assesses the extent to which wildfire management in the country is evolving to adapt
to growing wildfire risk under climate change.
In this launch event, the OECD discussed the findings of the policy dialogue carried out in Portugal, putting it into context of the broader multi-country study launched by the OECD “Taming Wildfires in the Context of Climate Change” during the 8th International Wildland Fire Conference in May 2023 in Porto, providing global assessment of wildfire risk in the context of climate change.