Singapore said on November 3 that it will work with ASEAN member states to strengthen implementation of a transboundary haze agreement when it chairs the regional bloc in 2027. Environment Minister Grace Fu told Parliament the city-state will also work toward establishing an ASEAN coordinating center for haze pollution control in Indonesia.
Singapore's plan to host the ASEAN haze control center in Indonesia depends on six member states ratifying the agreement, a step that would formalize regional coordination on land and forest fires.
Singapore will work with ASEAN member states to strengthen implementation of an agreement on transboundary haze when it chairs the regional bloc in 2027, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu told Parliament on November 3.
Fu said Singapore will also work with the bloc to establish the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Transboundary Haze Pollution Control in Indonesia. The center will strengthen cooperation and coordination in managing land and forest fires and transboundary haze, she said, and will only come into force after six ASEAN member states have ratified the establishment agreement.
She added that Singapore will work with other member states to tackle the root causes of transboundary haze, such as peatland management and crop burning guidelines.
According to Singapore's meteorological service, the haze has eased significantly in Singapore with the weakening of the Southwest monsoon, with light and variable winds more likely to blow the smoke away, and increased rainfall is also expected in November.
Singapore has been subject to angry rhetoric from Jakarta, partly due to tensions surrounding the wildfires that choked the region in haze in October. A former Indonesian official also claimed without evidence that Singapore's sovereign wealth funds played a role in index provider MSCI's warning that it would downgrade Indonesian stocks. Indonesia has warned Muslim pilgrims to avoid transiting through Singapore and has cut gas supplies to the city-state.
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