Southeast Asia’s toxic haze spurs calls for legal action against polluters

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – As toxic haze from Indonesia’s worst wildfires successful a decennary clouded skies crossed Malaysia and Singapore implicit the past 2 months, a increasing clamour of voices has demanded ineligible accountability.

In theory, a patchwork of home and planetary laws makes it imaginable for Southeast Asian governments to clasp polluters liable for cross-border haze, astir of which has been blamed connected onshore clearing by Indonesian thenar lipid plantation owners.

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In practice, sensitivities astir nationalist sovereignty, a deficiency of enforcement mechanisms, and the applicable challenges of grounds postulation marque ineligible enactment difficult, if not infeasible.

On paper, Southeast Asian countries are committed to moving unneurotic to forestall cross-border aerial contamination nether the ASEAN Agreement connected Transboundary Haze Pollution, signed successful 2002.

The legally binding pact commits the 11 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to tackle haze, a recurring contented for decades, done “concerted nationalist efforts and intensified determination and planetary co-operation”.

However, the statement does not incorporate provisions for enforcement by a judicial assemblage specified arsenic the International Court of Justice, which requires each parties to consent to its jurisdiction, and disagreements implicit mentation and exertion tin lone beryllium settled done negotiation.

Implementation of the pact has besides moved astatine a snail’s pace.

The treaty’s coordinating office, located successful the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, lone opened this April, astir a quarter-century aft it was envisioned.

“For decades, the effect to haze has mostly focused connected diplomatic engagement, exigency firefighting, and measures to support nationalist health,” Heng Kiah Chun, a determination run strategist for Greenpeace Southeast Asia, told Al Jazeera.

“While these efforts are necessary, they person not sufficiently addressed the underlying causes, including wood and peatland destruction, unsustainable land-use practices and inadequate firm accountability,” Chun said.

A heavy haze obscures the skyline down the Central Business District successful Singapore, connected October 9, 2026 [David Hu/AP]

Malaysia and Singapore, wherever haze has propelled large colonisation centres to the apical of planetary tables for mediocre aerial quality, person refrained from criticising Indonesia, alternatively offering assistance to combat the fires, which are estimated to person burned much than 2 cardinal hectares (about 5 cardinal acres) of onshore successful the archipelago.

Jakarta has fixed mixed signals connected accepting extracurricular assistance, with officials vacillating betwixt welcoming the offers and insisting they tin grip the fires themselves.

Mohd Hazmi Mohd Rusli, an subordinate prof and ineligible adept astatine Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia, said Southeast Asia’s long-standing accent connected statement and noninterference has hampered action.

“Economic interests and diplomatic considerations besides play a role,” Rusli told Al Jazeera.

“Malaysia and Singapore person traditionally favoured diplomatic engagement implicit nonstop confrontation successful managing delicate bilateral and determination issues, reflecting ASEAN’s broader penchant for consultation and consensus.”

Rather than negociate caller ineligible frameworks, ASEAN should fortify its existing pact “through autarkic monitoring, clearer compliance procedures, greater firm accountability and stronger home enforcement”, Rusli added.

With diplomatic efforts having small impact, attraction has progressively turned to the anticipation of countries utilizing home laws with extraterritorial reach, an attack pioneered by Singapore.

Under the 2014 Transboundary Haze Pollution Act, Singaporean authorities are empowered to prosecute polluters for activities taking spot overseas, with violators liable for fines of 100,000 Singapore dollars ($78,300) a time up to a maximum of 2 cardinal Singapore dollars ($1.56m).

The enactment besides enables the city-state’s National Environment Agency to contented notices directing companies to cease burning connected their lands.

The bureau has issued specified notices to 10 Indonesia-based firms during this year’s wildfire season. But to date, nary institution has really been prosecuted nether the Singaporean law.

Evidentiary challenges

While the authorities allows authorities to place suspected polluters done meteorological data, outer imagery, and maps, prosecutors would apt conflict to found guilt beyond a tenable uncertainty successful immoderate lawsuit without firsthand grounds from Indonesia.

“Such nonstop grounds tin lone beryllium obtained if the Indonesian authorities themselves analyse and instrumentality enactment against these precise companies and stock their grounds with Singapore,” Alan Khee-Jin Tan, an adept successful biology instrumentality astatine the National University of Singapore (NUS) Faculty of Law, told Al Jazeera.

“The astir apt ‘defence’ the companies volition instrumentality is that the fires started extracurricular their concessions and dispersed into their holdings.”

Malaysia’s authorities has said it could see authorities akin to the Singaporean law, but cautioned that implementation would beryllium difficult.

In 2023, the government abandoned proposals for a instrumentality against cross-border haze, citing the trouble of obtaining grounds for prosecution.

Legal enactment besides risks inflaming diplomatic tensions.

In 2016, Singapore and Indonesia became embroiled successful a diplomatic quality aft the city-state’s biology bureau attempted to summon the manager of an Indonesian institution linked to the haze for questioning.

Indonesia’s past biology minister, Siti Nurbaya Bakar, accused Singapore of not showing “mutual respect”, a proposition denied by officials successful the city-state.

Tensions person flickered during the latest haze season, too.

On Wednesday, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto deed retired astatine countries that “like to insult” his federation implicit the fires, portion pledging to exposure overseas companies that helium claimed were besides liable for the crisis.

Prabowo said his authorities took the contented seriously, with authorities arresting individuals recovered to person started fires, but it would “step up our response”.

The Indonesian leader’s remarks came aft a Malaysian person past week said that Indonesia should beryllium treated arsenic an “outcast” wrong ASEAN implicit the haze.

A firefighter sprays h2o successful an effort to extinguish a wildfire burning done a peatland wood successful Pulang Pisau, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, connected September 5, 2026 [Regina Safri/AP]

NUS instrumentality adept Tan said that portion Singaporean authorities could motorboat a test-case prosecution against Indonesian companies without Jakarta’s assistance, they are improbable to bash truthful unless Indonesian authorities enactment first.

“Practically, they are apt to proceed lone against those companies which the Indonesian authorities person themselves intelligibly identified and charged arsenic perpetrators,” helium said, adding that a failed prosecution could besides exposure the authorities arsenic toothless.

“Otherwise, immoderate enactment that Singapore takes would look to the Indonesians to beryllium unilateral, and could beryllium politically controversial.”

Eugene Tan Kheng Boon, an subordinate prof of instrumentality astatine Singapore Management University, said Indonesia’s nonaccomplishment to instrumentality stronger enactment was the eventual stumbling artifact to a resolution, but countries could besides fortify their ain laws and regulations.

“This could see requiring commodities specified arsenic thenar lipid sold successful the portion and utilized successful different products to beryllium certified to beryllium sustainably sourced,” Tan told Al Jazeera.

“Customers successful the portion tin besides boycott purchasing items from companies that are liable for the haze,” helium said.

“Banks that concern these polluters should besides travel wrong the enforcement crosshairs.”

Matthew Baird, manager of the Asian Research Institute for Environmental Law, said that stronger governmental volition successful the portion was needed supra each else.

“Governments truly person to beryllium unneurotic and enactment connected truly bully strategical options, similar the Chinese authorities did for aerial contamination successful Beijing, wherever they were capable to trim aerial contamination – but it took 30 years and a batch of money,” Baird told Al Jazeera.

“Governments successful Southeast Asia person to bash it, and they person to get companies to alteration their behaviour, and that takes time, effort, and astir apt a batch of litigation,” Baird said.

This would impact “holding directors to account, sending directors to jail, holding companies to account, and making definite that they fulfil obligations”, helium added.

“Because successful each country, it is really a transgression offence to pain land.”