Brazil & Southern Cone - February 2026

Chile’s summer season (December-February) is the hottest and driest period of the year, with the risk of forest fire outbreaks rising significantly. The Chilean branch of international environmental NGO Greenpeace has expressed regret over how fires have become normalised and warns that forest fire seasons are becoming more intense. Political leaders such as the outgoing left-wing President Gabriel Boric and incoming right-wing President-elect José Antonio Kast have signalled intentions to work together on relief and reconstruction efforts, but Greenpeace has emphasised the need for new fire prevention legislation to be passed.

At the time of writing, at least 20 people in Chile had reportedly died in January 2026 due to forest fires. In a statement published on 29 January Greenpeace warned that the worst affected areas were rural provinces in Chile’s central-southern and southern regions, mainly Ñuble, Biobío, and La Araucanía. Greenpeace cited official figures highlighting that over 3,000 fires have been registered in the 2025-2026 summer season so far, affecting more than 65,000 hectares (ha), which marks a 193% increase compared to the 2024-2025 season.

Ecologists, engineers, and other experts cited by the Associated Press have said that the amount of land affected by forest fires in Chile is increasing due to many factors, including severe droughts and the prevalence of combustible organic material, but also human activity. Experts have also highlighted the practices of Chile’s logging and pulp industries [SSR-24-03], which enact large-scale monoculture plantations of trees. The industry is mainly concentrated in Chile’s central and southern regions, which are often among the worst affected parts of the country in the summer.

The forestry industry tends to plant highly flammable trees such as pine and eucalyptus, and these plantations reportedly have high concentrations of dead vegetation. When piled up, the organic matter on the ground beneath the canopy can be the fuel for intense fire outbreaks and the wind can spread embers from fires across a whole forest and into residential areas of rural towns.

Boric and Kast unity

Ahead of Kast’s election victory in December, he did not feature strongly in discussions about environment-related disasters and prevention policies, but on 19 January he gave a joint address with Boric and promised to prioritise the reconstruction efforts in areas affected by the fires once he takes office in March. He also sought to defend the Boric administration from critics who accused the national government of a slow response to the disaster.

Jaime Vásquez, the mayor of Lota, Concepción province, Biobío region, and Rodrigo Vera, the mayor of Penco, also in Concepción province, have been cited in the press as saying that there has been a lack of political will to quickly send the necessary support, such as deployment of military helicopters to aid in evacuation efforts. But Kast said on 19 January that authorities should “look forward” rather than play the blame game and argue about “speed or slowness”. 

In its 29 January statement Greenpeace said that a bill to create a fire prevention law had been under review in congress for two years. It was only in January 2026 that the stalled legislation appeared to regain momentum. On 27 January Chile’s senate approved the fire bill which proposes various measures to prevent and mitigate the risk of forest fires. These include the establishment of urban-rural buffer zones where property owners are obliged to maintain clear firebreak areas; harsher penalties, such as fines, for non-compliance with the response plans of the national forest service (Senafor); as well as technical support and public education initiatives for farmers and residents to better understand agroforestry systems and methods to reduce fire risks. The bill has been submitted to the lower chamber of congress, where deputies have reportedly expressed urgency to review the legislation, although at the time of writing, the bill has not been put to a vote.

Greenpeace has called for the swift approval of the fire law and described it as a step in the right direction. However, the NGO made other demands in its statement, such as new territorial planning reforms that better incorporate disaster risk management and more resources for environmental education. It also called for increasing the biodiversity of Chile’s forests, as monoculture plantations, such as those planted by logging companies, are known to have higher forest fire risks than native forests with a wider variety of plant species. 

Despite the signals from various officials about the need to implement reforms to prevent fires, a forest engineering and sustainable development expert at the Universidad de Chile, Julio Torres Cuadros, published a column on the website of local broadcaster Radio Cooperativa on 28 January in which he expressed pessimism over the lack of structural change. He highlighted that there are frequent discussions about the importance of “native forests that do not burn”, but that radical overhaul of land planning systems is “extremely complex” and “not politically profitable”. Politicians are unlikely to call for a radical reform that could involve mass displacements of residents, farmers, or companies in rural areas, which would likely face fierce resistance.

Argentina fires

Fires are a serious concern every summer not only in Chile, but also in neighbouring Argentina, especially in the Patagonia region. On 29 January Argentina’s right-wing government led by President Javier Milei decreed an emergency in response to the fires that have been raging in Patagonia. The previous day governors of Patagonian provinces, such as Ignacio Torres, the governor of the heavily affected province of Chubut, demanded the emergency declaration which could expedite resources for fire responses.