Opinion: Time for fire solutions

What is clear from the work currently underway by organisations such as the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) is that the political economy of fire – that is, the complex network of socio-economic and political considerations at the root of the issue of forest burning – means that there are no easy options. Fire is an incredibly complicated issue, but what we need to focus on is what CIFOR calls the ‘business of fire’. These fires are being driven by economic activity and we need to recognise that it is the economy that is at the heart of these forest fires. Accordingly, I believe that there are four steps that we must take to end the ‘business of fire’.