Welsh county ranked fourth in world for scale of wildfire carbon emissions

Abby Neve

A county in Wales had the fourth highest intensity of carbon emissions per square km in the world during July 2026 due to wildfires, according to recent data by the Copernicus Wildfire Emissions Watch.

The data, analysed by Save the Children, revealed that the intensity of the carbon emissions in Torfaen puts it fourth in the world, impacting the lives of more than twenty thousand children.

Melanie Simmonds, Head of Save the Children Wales said, “In Wales and across the world, children are breathing in smoke from wildfires, coping with extreme heat and losing the freedom to play outdoors because the air is no longer safe.”

“These conditions are not only frightening – they carry serious health consequences for children whose bodies and lungs are still developing.

“It is so important that every child has access to nature and green spaces, and wildfires and extreme heat are making it more difficult for children who are already affected by poverty to enjoy the outdoors.”

More than twenty thousand children and young people under 19 years of age in Torfaen were exposed to higher levels of carbon emissions than normal, according to their analysis.

One of the most significant wildfires in Torfaen is in Blaenavon, which started burning on the 19th of July and continues to burn a month later.

The data comes after the UK Government issued a national alert last week warning the public that there was a very high risk of wildfires nationally.

While air pollution affects everyone, children are among the most vulnerable because their bodies, organs and immune systems are still not fully developed, says Save the Children.

According to UNICEF, children are more vulnerable to air pollution because they breathe faster, taking in more air per kilogram of body weight.

In addition, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), PM2.5, a harmful particle which can be released from wildfire smoke, can cause and worsen diseases of the lungs, brain and skin, and has also been linked to cognitive impairment and memory loss.

A report by Save the Children and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel last year found that 1.5 million children could be spared the consequences of experiencing unprecedented lifetime exposure to wildfires if warming is limited to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Lily, 15, a Save the Children Youth Advisor from Wales, said: “The extreme heat has made it so that I am too uncomfortable to sleep and my appetite has worsened greatly.”

Save the Children Cymru are calling on the Welsh Government to strengthen the resilience of essential services critical for children’s development and wellbeing in the face of the climate emergency, and to ensure that the voice and needs of children are at the heart of climate adaptation and resilience strategies in Wales.

Melanie Simmonds added: “We’re working with partners and communities in Wales to help prepare children and families in the event of extreme weather, with a particular focus on low-income families who we know are being hit the hardest by climate change.”

Torfaen was ranked fourth after Annaba in Algeria (1st), Ávila in Spain (2nd) and Malanje in Angola (3rd).

Dr Mark Parrington, Senior Scientist at Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service, verified the analysis by Save the Children: He said:

“The CAMS fire emissions data available via our Fire Emissions Watch application shows that, relatively speaking, Torfaen had the fourth highest emissions intensity (which is the regional average per square kilometre) for July 2026 as indicated in the report.”

“The app also provides an emissions anomaly per region, which indicates how much the current emissions differ from the average, for which Torfaen was the highest for July (noting also that Gwynedd and Powys were 3rd and 5th, respectively).

However, he added:

“While these fires have had some devastating impacts for Wales, including severely reduced air quality downwind of the fires, it should be noted that the overall magnitude of the fire emissions from Wales are still significantly less than those from, for example, North America.”

Torfaen councillors have been approached for comment.

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