- 1 year ago
- #considerthis
When haze hits, it disrupts daily life; causes school closures, health problems, and interrupted economic activity. But those stories often fade with the smoke. What do we lose by treating haze as a seasonal nuisance instead of the crisis it is? On this episode of #ConsiderThis Melisa Idris speaks with Heng Kiah Chun, Lead Campaigner at Greenpeace Malaysia.
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00:00Hello and good evening. I'm Melissa Idris. Welcome to Consider This. This is the show
00:24where we want you to consider and then reconsider what you know of the news of the day. Is it
00:29haze season again? When the haze hits, it disrupts daily life. We have school closures, we have health
00:35problems and also loss of income. But these stories often fade with the smoke. Now what do we
00:43lose as a country by treating haze as a seasonal nuisance as opposed to the crisis it is? Joining
00:50me on the show to discuss this further is Heng Kya Chun who is the lead campaigner at Greenpeace
00:57Malaysia. Heng, thank you so much for being on the show with me today. So we're seeing
01:01air quality already being affected in certain parts of our country. What concerns you the
01:06most about where things are headed this dry season? Okay yeah thank you Melissa. Okay first of all we
01:13want to highlight that why the haze crisis need immediate actions. Because if you look at the
01:18history, the history has shown that the impact the problem of the haze. For example, the millions of
01:23Malaysians, Singaporeans and Indonesians have been forced to breathe all these toxic eggs. In 2015 to 2016,
01:32like the school closed, children missed classes, tourism affected, respiratory illness increased,
01:39flight cancer and business slowed down. And our frontliners such as farmers and fishermen lose their
01:45livelihood. So while our healthcare system are also struggling. So the root cause is well known, which is the
01:51peatland degradations and the slag and slag and burns land clearing in Sumatra and Kalimantan. Largely
01:57driven by the palm oil and pulp and paper plantations expansion. So this issue is complex because
02:05it is a transnational issue and no single country can solve it alone. So if you look at that, Malaysia
02:13assumed the asian chairmanship in 2025 this year. Our leaderships on sustainability and transboundary
02:19challenges will come under the spotlight. If this haze returns, it will come undermines the
02:24Malaysian credibility at a time when we should be showcasing regional leaderships on climate action
02:30and responsible business practices. Yeah, I mean, you're absolutely right. I mean,
02:34the reasons or the root causes of haze are well documented, well known. But when we think about how
02:43far we've come at addressing some of these drivers, tackling the drivers at its source, why do you think
02:51we haven't made enough progress in this respect? From where you're sitting, Heng, why do you think we
02:59have failed to address this when we know very well what has caused it? Okay, if you look at the history,
03:07the results, I think in 2020, Malaysian government shelved the tabeling of the Transboundary Haste
03:13Pollution Act. And then what is the current gap? If we look at that, there are two main gaps. The first
03:20gap is the member state of ASEAN are using ASEAN weight, which means no interference policy, and
03:26instead they focus on facilitating the regional diplomatic corporations for responding to fire rather
03:33than provide original regimes of legal accountability for wrongdoers who cause fire. And then the second
03:39gap is for private person in Malaysia, the agreement of Transboundary Haste remains a regional agreement.
03:46It provides no direct legal assistance to those people in Malaysia who want to seek redress against
03:52Transboundary Haste Pollution in Malaysian court, meaning that we want to push for the Clean Air law or
03:58Transboundary Haste law with Transboundary Haste control mechanism. And to highlight that the diplomatic
04:04corporations between the government in Southeast Asia can co-exist with laws that hold domestic company
04:09responsible for the international misconduct that affect the regions. Okay, can it co-exist? I mean,
04:15what would you say to the business or to the parties who think that they are, who have resistance
04:24towards this, or even resistance to more transparency or environmental due diligence?
04:32I would say that if the, because if we talk about the Transboundary Haste, we also have to talk about
04:39the plantation issue. So this is an opportunity for Malaysia to lead. For example, I think I will,
04:45in our open letter to the newly appointed Minister, Minister of Environment, Tattok Seri Johari Abdul,
04:51we propose three opportunities for Malaysia this year. The first one is to drive responsible
04:56businesses' practice. Because the trade is not just an environmental issue, it's also a business and
05:01governance issue. The Indonesian and Malaysian plantation industry are closely connected.
05:07Some plantation companies, including those with Malaysian types operating in Malaysia,
05:11have been linked to unsustainable practices. However, this is an opportunity for Malaysian plantation
05:17sector to prove that they will not, no longer tolerate deforestation or peatland destruction.
05:23Otherwise, Malaysian owned company in Indonesia, they will have a risk of being shamed for contributing
05:29haste as happened during 2015 and 2019. And most importantly, the way to restore a plantation
05:36sector's reputation is to stop the company destroying the peatland that increased peat fire and transboundary
05:42haste. So, Malaysian company, it's time for Malaysian company to prove that they are not involved.
05:47And this approach not only improves air quality, in fact, these stronger measures will also help
05:53Malaysia to stand up as an ethical and sustainable leader in the global markets.
05:58I mean, thank you for bringing up the new Minister. I think this is quite interesting.
06:02When you think about the new Minister Johari Ghani being given the portfolio, so he's the Plantations and
06:08Commodities Minister and now has been given the portfolio of natural resources and environmental
06:13sustainability. Do you see this as conflicting interests, like pulling him separately? Or is this
06:20an opportunity for him to have an overview of both interrelated portfolios?
06:27Yeah, because this new Minister is already aware of the palm oil industry,
06:35so it's an opportunity for him to push for more responsible businesses. So now you are doing the
06:40good and pushing a plantation company to do something good. Now this is time for you to drive
06:47responsible business practices. Because Malaysia is ASEAN chair this year, so the Malaysian government
06:54can use this ASEAN platform to champion environmental rights. While the ASEAN agreements on transboundary
06:59HACE exists, it has been not strong enough to end the HACE crisis. So what we can do, Malaysia can use
07:07its ASEAN chairmanship to push for ASEAN environmental rights, in line with the recent United Nations
07:12resolutions affirming the right to clean, healthy and sustainable environment. Recognizing this right
07:18will mean that the government has a duty to prevent cross-border environmental harm, corporations must be held
07:24accountable for destroying the environment, and ASEAN must move from promise to real actions that
07:30protect justice, health and sustainability for the future generation. So against the HACE crisis is a
07:36question of justice, health and sustainability for future generation. This positions Malaysia as a
07:43regional voice for clean air, corporate responsibility and sustainable development, showing that ASEAN's
07:49solidarity can tackle even the toughest cross-border challenges. Well, there's a lot of pressure on
07:55Malaysia this year because of us, because we're holding the ASEAN chair to get some movement of
08:01progress on this. But we can't deny this is a parental problem. It's been happening for years, for decades even.
08:08Can I ask you, when you look at how Malaysia is approaching addressing HACE issues, you compare it to the
08:15other countries as part of this trans-boundary problem. Who do you think is leading in terms of
08:23action? And what can we learn from what they're doing? I would say, again, it's an opportunity.
08:31Malaysian government should do more than the current efforts because, like what I mentioned, diplomatic
08:37relations can co-exist with the actions. So what we can do is, Malaysian government can follow the
08:44recommendations by recent Human Rights Commission of Malaysia, Swakam, in his latest Right to Clean Air
08:51reports, showing that Malaysia should enact a comprehensive Clean Air Act or Transboundary
08:56Haste Act that specifically address the transboundary HACE pollutions. And this law that can, and first,
09:03they can empower the government to hold Malaysian citizens and businesses accountable, even their
09:08operations operate abroad that contribute to HACE. The second, they can serve as a deterrent against
09:15irresponsible practices. Number three is to complement the sustainable farming and peatland
09:20restoration efforts to prevent the future HACE incident. So for those, again, this is also a message to
09:26push for responsible business because for plantation companies that are not involved in forest fire and
09:33HACE, this is not a threat. This is an opportunity. Because supporting this law will prove that they
09:38are clean, they are transparent, and they are responsible. And penalty will only target the bad apple
09:44in the industry, protecting the integrity of responsible businesses. Malaysia can use to say,
09:50cross-border, this transboundary HACE law is still possible. So it's time for Malaysian government to
09:54show political will to make this happen. Right. Can I ask you, Heng, about what the public can do? So
10:02based on your observations, how does the public engage with or support efforts to address the
10:09HACE issue? Are we pushing our businesses and government to do more on this? Or are we looking
10:18at this HACE issue as something that is a given, that will come every year and we just have to suffer
10:24through it? What's missing in the conversations that we have about HACE? Yeah, I mean, what the citizen
10:30can do, I think the first thing they have to talk to the member parliament, the policymaker, to tell
10:34people, to tell the policymaker that the HACE happened for more than 20 years. We have to tell
10:39the governments that enough is enough. And what we need is a long lasting, it's a lasting change.
10:45And because Malaysian ASEAN Championship this year focused on inclusivity and sustainability,
10:52and this is a team that must be matched with bold actions. So meaning that what we need to do as a
10:57three recommendations I want to highlight is enact a clean air law and then push for responsible
11:03businesses and championing ASEAN environmental rights. So by driving responsible business practices,
11:09enacting a clean air law to address transboundary HACE, championing for ASEAN environmental rights,
11:14Malaysia can protect its people, safeguarding the region and set a new standard for the corporate
11:19accountability. And together we can ensure that our future generations will not, no longer
11:25suffocating the HACE that has been affecting us for decades. So the time for immediate actions is now.
11:32Right, well thank you so much Heng for being on the show and I hope you feel better. I hear that you
11:37are also affected by the haze and slightly under the weather today. But thank you for sharing your
11:43insights with us today. I appreciate your time. That was Heng Kya Chun from a lead campaigner at
11:49Greenpeace Malaysia. We're going to take a quick break here on Consider This. We'll be back with more. Stay tuned.
11:54We'll be back with more.
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