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Smog raises questions about Indonesia’s commitment to transboundary haze treaty

The smog that wafts through the region calls into question the effectiveness of a regional transboundary haze treaty, as well as Indonesia's commitment to preventing and mitigating haze.

Dian Septiari (The Jakarta Post)
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Jakarta
Thu, September 19, 2019

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Smog raises questions about Indonesia’s commitment to transboundary haze treaty A view of the Singapore F1 Grand Prix night race Marina Bay street circuit shrouded in haze on Sept. 18, 2019. (Reuters/Feline Lim)

T

he plummeting air quality in Southeast Asia caused by forest fires in parts of Indonesia has raised questions on the effectiveness of an ASEAN agreement to prevent haze pollution and puts the spotlight on Jakarta’s failure to comply with the treaty.

The 2002 ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution (AATHP) was issued to prevent and monitor transboundary haze pollution as a result of land and forest fires, placing the responsibility on concerted national mitigation efforts and intensive regional and international cooperation.

However, the illegal clearing of agricultural land by fire in Sumatra and Kalimantan has caused worsening air quality not only in Indonesia but also in Malaysia, Singapore and most recently the Philippines.

Authorities in Indonesia and Malaysia have closed thousands of schools and Singapore has taken steps to ensure the upcoming F1 weekend will continue in spite of the smothering haze, according to local reports.

The fires in Indonesia are an annual problem, but this year has seen the worst fires since 2015, when it caused a serious environmental crisis that stoked fears about wildfire outbreaks worldwide exacerbating global warming.

This recurrence raised serious concerns about the effectiveness of the agreement, said Meena Raman, chairperson of Sahabat Alam Malaysia (Friends of the Earth Malaysia).

“ASEAN’s vision of a haze-free region by 2020 now seems like an impossible task,” she said in a statement on Thursday.

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