A framework for considering justice aspects in integrated wildfire risk management

Climate and socioeconomic change are reshaping wildfire patterns and increasing risks globally, leading to potential new conflicts and equity issues. Incorporating justice considerations from different perspectives into integrated wildfire risk management is essential to address these new challenges. There is increasing evidence that anthropogenic climate change and socioeconomic development are altering the dynamics of extreme wildfire events, leading to increasing wildfire risk globally and causing potential new conflicts in wildfire risk management (WFRM). Managing these risks in increasingly complex governance settings raises important equity concerns; in particular, what is perceived as just in terms of outcomes and processes. We develop a framework for identifying and categorizing along the WFRM cycle (prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery and adaptation) crucial and generally applicable aspects of distributional, procedural and restorative justice. We argue that policymakers and decision-makers should proactively consider all three justice aspects within collaborative governance policy processes to successfully innovate integrated WFRM strategies that respond to equity concerns.