Delegates at the 24th Meeting of the Sub-Regional Ministerial Steering Committee on Transboundary Haze Pollution (MSC 24), Singapore, June 8, 2023 (Photo: asean.org) Jakarta (VNA) – The 24th Meeting of the Sub-Regional Ministerial Steering Committee on Transboundary Haze Pollution (MSC 24) was held in Singapore on June 8.
The meeting was attended by ministers and officials from Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand. The 24th Meeting of the Technical Working Group on Transboundary Haze Pollution (TWG 24) was organised prior to MSC 24.
According to the ASEAN Specialised Meteorological Centre's (ASMC) weather and smoke haze review, hotspot counts detected in the first five months of this year were around 16% lower than the same period last year for the southern ASEAN region.
Based on current climate models, ASMC forecast a 70-80% chance for El Niño conditions to develop between June to September 2023 and for a positive Indian Ocean Dipole to develop between June and July 2023. Both these climate phenomena would likely result in below normal rainfall for many parts of the southern ASEAN region in the next few months.
MSC 24 noted that the dry season this year could be more prolonged and intense compared to the past three years and risk of elevated hotspot activities and transboundary smoke haze occurrence was the highest since 2019.
The MSC countries pledged to stay vigilant and intensify their fires monitoring and haze preventive efforts to minimise the occurrence of transboundary smoke haze during drier periods.
They reaffirmed their readiness to provide assistance such as deployment of technical resources for firefighting assistance on emergency response situation to mitigate land and forest fires.
The meeting expressed appreciation and commended the various initiatives and actions by the MSC countries on the implementation of the Strategic Review of the Sub-Regional Ministerial Steering Committee Programmes and Activities which includes enhancing haze control management through early warning, monitoring and fire prevention; building capabilities for fire suppression at the local, national and regional levels; bilateral collaboration in line with the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution (AATHP); and capacity building of ASEAN member states under the Regional Haze Training Network.
MSC 24 reaffirmed its commitment towards the full and effective implementation of the AATHP and looked forward to the finalisation of the new Roadmap on ASEAN Cooperation towards Transboundary Haze Pollution Control with Means of Implementation (Haze-free Roadmap) 2023-2030 and the new ASEAN Peatland Management Strategy (APMS) 2023-2030 to further strengthening, intensifying, and comprehensively addressing the root causes of transboundary haze pollution and pursue the overall context of sustainable development for the region.
The meeting stressed the need to pursue the finalisation of the Establishment Agreement of the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Transboundary Haze Pollution Control (ACC THPC) in Indonesia and resume cooperation with internal and external parties to facilitate better prevention, monitoring, preparedness and response to the land and forest fires through strengthened local, national and regional cooperation framework./.
