Authors:
Khor Yu Leng, Johan Saravanamuttu and Deborah Augustin
Book:
Proceedings of the 15th International Peat Congress
Venue:
Kuching
Keywords:
air-pollution, indonesia, palm-oil, smallholder, sustainable-development
Documentfile:
ipc16p70-74a301khorsaravanamuttu.etal_.pdf
Summary:
SUMMARY
Southeast Asia has arguably seen the worst-ever, certainly the longest, peat-driven haze-smoke pollution between September and November 2015. Over 100,000 fires have burned some two million hectares, apparently worsened by El Nino climatic conditions and the Indonesian electoral cycle. Some 43 million Indonesians were exposed to toxic smog in Kalimantan and Sumatra. Neighbouring countries also endured the haze-smoke drift. This decades-old problem erupted in August 1997, presumably for the expansion of oil palm and other cash crops. This led the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to sign the 2002 Transboundary Haze Pollution Agreement (ratified by Indonesia in 2014). It gave rise to the Europe-led non-government organisation (NGO) movement for sustainable palm oil. Despite these measures, the problem recurs yearly. We examine the political-economy of the sources and solutions of the problemfrom the perspective of the palm oil supply chain. Oil palm is a profitable commercial crop established as tolerating