Malaysia, Indonesia pledge closer cooperation to tackle haze
KOTA KINABALU: Malaysia and Indonesia are stepping up joint efforts to tackle transboundary haze, pledging closer cooperation in monitoring hotspots, stricter enforcement against open burning, and possible cross-border cloud seeding operations.
Natural resources and environmental sustainability minister Arthur Joseph Kurup said coordinated Asean action was vital as haze remains a persistent regional problem.
“Recently we had an Asean meeting … I met up with all my counterparts, for example the environment minister in Indonesia, and we agreed to increase our collaboration – collaboration in terms of monitoring hotspots, more enforcement agencies to make sure there’s no open burning.
“We can also share our airspace in case we need to do any cloud seeding operations, maybe share our assets too,” he told reporters after launching the International Conference on Tropical Forestry 2026 here today.
He said regional cooperation was more crucial than ever, as Malaysia enters the “super El Nino” phase which is expected to bring drier conditions, reduced rainfall and a rise in fire-prone areas.
“And that will cause more haze. But we need to acknowledge that haze is a problem that’s not just faced by one country. It is a regional issue. What happens in our neighbouring countries will also affect us,” he added.
Kurup said Malaysia would continue raising the matter at the Asean level to improve regional coordination in dealing with haze and its contributing factors.
“This is a concerted effort needed at the regional level because this is a regional problem,” he said.
