The recent escalation in the number of "hotspots" as detected from satellite imagery together with the presence of transboundary smoke haze plumes indicating burning activities on the ground in northern parts of Thailand and also covering neighbouring Myanmar and Laos have brought into sharp focus the Asean Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution.
Wildfires are among the main causes of the worsening air quality and haze in the North.
The region's first and only operational environmental agreement was signed by all 10 member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations on June 10, 2002 and came into force on Nov 25, 2003. It was prompted by the severe transboundary air pollution disaster in 1997/8 that affected a good portion of the southern sub-region of Asean including primarily the Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Kalimantan which were then the major sources of the fires. However, the smoke haze also blew over to and seriously affected Brunei, Singapore, peninsular or West Malaysia as well as East Malaysia on Borneo Island and it even reached as far as southern parts of Thailand and the Philippines at some stages.
The total damages and losses from that environmental catastrophe have been estimated to be around US$4-5 billion and some even put the figures as high as twice that amount. The negative effects which were fire-related included loss of property, valuable forest timber and other natural resources including biodiversity, degraded land productivity, reduced water retention capacities, and extra fire-fighting expenditures, not to mention the dramatic increase in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere thus contributing greatly to global warming and climate change. The haze-related damages included adverse effects on health, tourism and transportation as well as other economic productivity losses and general decline in quality of life as a result of living in a suffocating environment of inhaling harmful pollutants for extended periods.
The northernmost provinces of Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Mae Hong Son, generally well known for their pleasant natural as well as socio-cultural environment, have suddenly become smothered in choking smoke haze every year starting around February. In much of Southeast Asia, burning is still the easiest and preferred way of clearing land when no better incentives or alternatives are available nor stiffer penalties imposed. As it is generally the case, the major culprits often get away scot free while the community or society at large bears the brunt of the losses and injuries.
Asean has been addressing this pollution issue at the regional and sub-regional levels over time, starting in the southern or archipelagic sub-region where it first gained prominence but lately also in the northern or mainland Southeast Asian countries where it seemed to have worsened in recent years with rapid deterioration in air quality during severe fire/haze periods. Since 1997, Asean had made concerted attempts to stem this perennial problem in both sub-regions through adoption of relevant policies and regulations as well as implementing prevention, monitoring and mitigation measures at the operational level with some cooperation from external partners.
But the efforts remained insufficient as the yearly recurrence of such severe fire/haze episodes in both sub-regions have clearly shown. Part of the problem is that preventing and controlling such situations are basically considered a national or local-level prerogative where individual Asean member countries have the primary responsibility. Moreover, the lack of adequate enforcement and compliance of set regulations have continued to be the critical shortcomings. Asean has adopted guidelines for the implementation on zero burning as well as controlled burning practices but there is still much room for improvement in terms of actual implementation on the ground. Such good practices and lessons learned have yet to find their way into national and local action plans and more importantly to the farmers and land owners at the field level.
Naturally, the usual resource requirements in terms of needed budget, equipment and personnel must be provided in order to tackle the problem effectively. More significantly though is the creation of a civic consciousness of the cost to society of the actions/inactions by a relatively few individuals. Finally a heightened sense of the necessity to cooperate across line agencies and sectoral ministries and beyond national boundaries in dealing with a common menace with utmost urgency would need to be further engrained in the minds of not only the government officials, but also across all sectors of society.
Asean just recently convened in Hanoi the meeting of the Sub-Regional Ministerial Steering Committee on Transboundary Haze Pollution in the Mekong Sub-Region.
The representation was remarkably low-key despite the severity of the fire/haze situation affecting the area at that time which reflected an apparent lack of seriousness at the official level to tackle the problem in an urgent and timely fashion. The Asean Haze Online website mentioned the 2002 haze agreement as "the first regional arrangement in the world that binds a group of contiguous states to tackle transboundary haze pollution resulting from land and forest fires. It has also been considered as a global role model for the tackling of transboundary issues." Ten years hence, the sustained interest and commitment required from both within Asean and external parties to effectively address the problem appear to be waning despite apparent official pronouncements to the contrary.
The situation certainly calls for a fresh invigoration of political will and resources by Asean along with securing necessary cooperation and support from Asean's various dialogue and development partners. Thailand of all countries should take a special interest in ensuring the satisfactory implementation of the agreement since both southern and northern parts of the country are in the fire/haze risk-prone zones. During the latest Asean Summit held in Bali in November 2011, even Asean Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan admitted about the "slow, frustrating and difficult" process of implementing agreements and declarations made by Asean.
He said that "translating regional visions into national implementation is challenging." He cited the case of the haze agreement as an example where Indonesia has yet to ratify it and there is still no clear indication when this might happen, if at all. As the 10th anniversary of the signing of the agreement approaches this coming June, occurring just days before the holding of the next United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development or Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, perhaps it is high time for Asean member countries, individually as well as collectively, to re-dedicate their efforts in operationalising the haze agreement in a more determined manner in accordance with universally accepted principles of sustainable development. The degree to which the letter and the spirit of the haze agreement _ Asean's flagship environmental legislation _ complies will stand as a key testimony of the commitment of the region's governments and its peoples towards paying due attention to environmental protection as well as the rule of law as enshrined in the region's basic rule book, the Asean Charter.
Apichai Sunchindah is an independent development specialist with an interest in Asean affairs.