Extreme temperatures are increasing wildfire risk. In this interview with Florencia Vial on Mega, we discussed the importance of shared responsibility in prevention — given that 99% of wildfires are attributed to human actions — as well as the need to invest in resilience rather than spending on emergency response, how to improve territorial planning, and building codes in wildland-urban interface areas.
Key Topics
Co-responsibility in wildfire prevention: 99% of fires are human-caused
Investing in resilience vs. spending on emergency response
Improving territorial planning in high-risk areas
Building codes and regulations in wildland-urban interface zones
Cristóbal Mena is a Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Resilience specialist with over 20 years of experience across Latin America, the Caribbean, and other regions. He designs and implements public policies, risk governance frameworks, and disaster risk and crisis management systems for governments, development banks, and the private sector.
He has served as Deputy Director of ONEMI (Chile's National Emergency Office) and pro-tempore President of PROSUR's Working Group on Disaster Risk Reduction. His international work spans collaborations with the World Bank, GFDRR, UNDAC, INSARAG, CRS, and APEC, among others.
He works at the intersection of policy, institutions, and operations — helping organizations move from plans on paper to genuine readiness.
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