Malaysia closes schools over smoke, haze from Indonesia

Only four major banks in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore have embedded environmental factors as part of their credit-decision process, the World Wildlife Fund said in a May report. The second reason is more practical: “so everyone understands how hard it is in putting out these fires”.

More than 307,000 Indonesians have been recorded suffering from respiratory illnesses since the dry season started in June in the country, Indonesia’s health ministry said on Tuesday.

APP, however, said it had given Singapore’s National Environment Agency information about its subsidiaries and suppliers, as requested by the agency last month.

Indonesia is home to between 10% and 15% of the world’s plants, mammals and birds – but they’re all under threat due to numerous fires in its diverse forests, causing air pollution and carbon emissions.

Sandra Keasberry, a spokeswoman for IKEA Singapore, said the company “has not made any purchases from the companies named in relation to the burning practices leading to the haze”.

But while the fires are burning in Indonesia, its neighbors do share a few responsibility.

We’ve heard so much about the current haze crisis in the last few weeks – it has shut down schools, canceled flights, and caused political turmoil between Indonesia and its neighbors. She says there need to be incentives put in place for small farmers not to use fire to clear land, and for local communities to be taught about the adverse effects of burning. The Thai authorities have warned that the situation could get worse and for the first time this year the pollution levels have reached risky levels.

Hamzah said establishing a map for smallholder plantations – areas typicaly less than 25 hectares that don’t require plantation permits – and unifying other land use maps would help with monitoring and enforcement.

“People, including children and senior citizens, are starting to have breathing problems and allergies and can only wonder when this whole haze issue will be solved”.

Indonesia on Thursday asked several countries including China, Singapore, Russia, and Japan for help to put out fires that have sent choking smoke drifting across the region for weeks. Big corporations set fire to forests every year to clear land speedily so the peaty soil can be planted with rows upon rows of trees that will be eventually harvested for paper pulp and palm oil. The lender said it doesn’t finance paper, pulp and logging companies in Indonesia.