BeZero partners with the State of Wildfires Project to analyse global wildfire risk
BeZero Carbon has partnered with the State of Wildfires Project, co-led by the University of East Anglia, as its exclusive carbon markets partner.
BeZero will provide funding to amplify the project’s findings with policymakers and lead the project’s analysis of fire risk exposure for forest carbon projects.
The partnership comes at a critical time, as the developing El Niño heightens concerns over extreme heat, drought, and fire risk.
12 July 2026 -- Carbon ratings agency BeZero Carbon has partnered with the University of East Anglia (UEA) to fund the State of Wildfires Project, a major international scientific initiative tracking the causes and impact of extreme wildfires.
The work brings together a network of scientists from six continents and more than 50 institutions, and is co-led by UEA and colleagues at the UK Met Office, the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts.
Forest carbon projects are a crucial part of global efforts to mitigate the global climate crisis. However, growing wildfire risk poses a challenge to the permanence of the carbon credits produced by these initiatives.
Through the partnership, BeZero will provide UEA with specialist analysis on the exposure of forest carbon projects to wildfire, using cutting-edge geospatial tools to show the risks of fire events to natural carbon stores. It will also support the report team in amplifying its findings, ensuring that the latest wildfire science reaches decision-makers across policy, industry, and civil society.
In the 2024–25 fire season, analysis by BeZero highlighted record-breaking exposure of forest carbon projects to fire, with the strongest impacts seen across North and South America. The new partnership will build on this work and, crucially, bring transparency to the permanence risks associated with forest carbon projects.
The partnership comes at a critical moment for global fire risk. The World Meteorological Organisation has warned that an El Niño event is developing, which could raise global temperatures and contribute to more extreme weather over the coming year, including hotter and drier conditions that can increase the possibility of wildfires in many tropical regions.
In September, the State of Wildfires Project is due to publish its next annual report, assessing the global fire season and examining the further impact of wildfires on people, ecosystems, carbon emissions, and climate resilience.
Dr Niels Andela, Director of Remote Sensing at BeZero Carbon, said: “Wildfire is one of the most fundamental risks facing nature-based carbon projects, and quantifying that risk and how to mitigate it is critical for wider confidence in the market. With climate change and El Niño amplifying extreme weather globally, it’s essential that carbon market operators have robust, science-led analysis of the risks facing forest-based projects. That’s why we’re proud to partner with the State of Wildfires Project to contribute data and financial support for a globally recognised scientific initiative, which helps policymakers and investors make informed decisions about climate action.”
Dr Matthew Jones, Senior Research Fellow at UEA and co-lead of the State of Wildfires Project, said: “Forest carbon projects will play a pivotal role in offsetting emissions from hard-to-abate sectors, so it is important to understand how wildfire could affect them. But wildfire risk is not the same everywhere.
“Some projects may be well placed to withstand fire risk, while others could be more vulnerable to fires that release or disturb stored carbon. The important thing is to understand where and why those differences occur, and how they may shift as the climate warms. Working with BeZero Carbon helps us look at these questions with both the science and the practical realities of the carbon market in mind.”