Southeast Asia’s haze crisis will persist until polluters pay

The annual haze crisis across Southeast Asia has returned with familiar severity, as forest and peatland fires in Indonesia send a thick blanket of smoke drifting across Malaysia, Singapore, and even parts of the Philippines. Schools have been closed, commuters wear masks on the streets, and health officials warn vulnerable groups to remain indoors. The crisis, which flares up every dry season, highlights how land-clearing practices in one country impose public health costs across an entire region.

Causes and scale

For decades, Indonesian palm oil and pulpwood plantations have used slash-and-burn techniques to clear land cheaply, a practice that becomes catastrophic during the dry season when fires escape control. The resulting haze is fuelled by carbon-rich peat swamps that smoulder for weeks, releasing vast quantities of carbon dioxide and fine particulate matter. The economic incentives favour burning because it is far cheaper than mechanical clearing, and penalties for illegal burning remain inconsistently enforced.

Health impact

Air quality in Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, and parts of Sumatra regularly exceeds safe limits by wide margins during peak haze periods. The WHO warns that prolonged exposure to fine particulate matter increases the risk of respiratory disease, stroke, and premature death, particularly among children and the elderly. Hospitals in affected areas report spikes in admissions for asthma, bronchitis, and other airway conditions each year.

Why it matters

While the UK is geographically distant, the haze crisis reflects a global pattern of how environmental degradation in one corner of the world creates cascading costs for others. British consumers, and the companies that supply palm oil and other commodities to UK retailers, are increasingly expected to take responsibility for sourcing practices that drive deforestation. As Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s government has pledged to strengthen supply chain transparency laws, pressure mounts on importers to trace their commodities to fire-free sources.

What happens next

ASEAN is expected to hold emergency consultations on regional fire prevention, though past agreements have struggled to produce binding enforcement. Indonesia’s president has promised to deploy water-bombing aircraft and forestfire brigades, but analysts note that without reforming the underlying economic incentives, the fires will return next season. For now, the UK government’s approach to deforestation-linked imports — due for parliamentary review next month — may offer another avenue to hold companies accountable for land-use decisions in distant supply chains.