International Cooperation Strengthened with Canada, Australia, and FAO for Wildfire Management
- Co-hosting of side event at the 28th Conference of the Parties of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change & Signing of Agreement for collaborative project AFFIRM -


The Korea Forest Service (Minister Nam Sunghyun) held a side event on 3 December in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in conjunction with the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP 28, 30 Nov.-12 Dec.) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The event was held in collaboration with Natural Resources Canada, the National Emergency Management Agency of Australia, and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations aimed to discuss global efforts in addressing the escalating issue of wildfires due to climate change.

Canada and Australia, holding vast forest areas, experience numerous large wildfires, to which they possess significant expertise and systems in wildfire management to address wildfire-related challenges. As a UN agency, the FAO is actively engaged in international collaborative projects implemented with donor countries in various aspects of wildfire management.

During the event, Canada's experience and insight from massive wildfires, especially from this year’s mass wildfire which burned over 18M ha alone were shared. Discussions covered the fire regimes in different countries, wildfire response systems, and measures to reduce wildfire risks. Additionally, projects led by FAO, such as the Global Fire Management Hub (GFMH) and others were introduced.

Aligned with the event, an agreement was signed between the Korea Forest Service and the FAO on 2 December to officially implement the jointly developed collaborative project, Assuring the Future of Forests with Integrated Risk Management (AFFIRM). AFFIRM, a signature project of the 15th World Forestry Congress held in the Republic of Korea in May 2022, focuses on building developing countries’ integrated wildfire management capacity in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Vietnam, and Thailand.

During his opening remarks at the event, Special Presidential Envoy of COP28, Cho Hongsik, highlighted that,“ In the era of climate change, wildfires are an imminent challenge that must be addressed for the survival of humanity.” Furthermore, Deputy Minister Lim Sang-seop of the Korea Forest Service proposed that “This event will serve as an opportunity to strengthen cooperation through exchange and knowledge sharing among Korea, Canada, Australia, and FAO in the field of wildfires.” during his closing remarks.