KOTA KINABALU, Aug 18 — Malaysia and Indonesia have pledged to intensify joint operations to combat transboundary haze, agreeing to enhance hotspot monitoring, enforce stricter bans on open burning, and explore cross-border cloud seeding operations.
Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Minister Datuk Seri Arthur Joseph Kurup emphasized that coordinated ASEAN action is essential to tackle what remains a persistent regional environmental challenge.
“Recently we had an ASEAN meeting… I met up with all my counterparts, for example the Minister of Environment in Indonesia, and we’ve already agreed to increase our collaboration,” Arthur said. “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.”
Speaking to reporters after launching the International Conference on Tropical Forestry 2026 here today, Arthur noted that regional cooperation is now more critical than ever as Malaysia enters a “super El Niño” climate phase, which is expected to bring prolonged dry weather, reduced rainfall, and a heightened risk of forest fires.
“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 neighboring countries will also affect us,” Arthur added.
The minister affirmed that Malaysia will continue raising the issue within ASEAN platforms to strengthen regional mechanisms in addressing transboundary haze and its underlying causes. “This is a concerted effort needed at the regional level because this is a regional problem,” he said.
–NMT
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