WorldSoutheast Asia's haze crisis: Have lessons been learned?

Eleven years after catastrophic fires led to promises of tougher action, Southeast Asia is again suffering from transboundary haze. Fires across Indonesia’s Sumatra, Borneo and Papua have sent smoke into Malaysia and Singapore, with a long dry season and this year’s El Niño worsening the crisis. More than 170,000 acute respiratory infection cases were recorded in affected Indonesian areas, while schools closed in Malaysia. Despite post-2015 reforms on peatland restoration, monitoring, enforcement and regional cooperation, land clearing and plantation expansion remain drivers.

Southeast Asiatransboundary hazewildfiresASEAN

DDW★★★★☆2026-10-06 13:50Original