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Global effort needed to fight haze

Has the haze gone? It seems so, for now. However, it will likely return as long as the root cause — the extra costs of creating a haze-free South-east Asia — is not addressed.

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Has the haze gone? It seems so, for now. However, it will likely return as long as the root cause — the extra costs of creating a haze-free South-east Asia — is not addressed.

In the long run, consumers everywhere should share some of this cost by paying for greener land clearing practices, and investors should contribute by investing in environmentally-friendly palm oil companies.

About 60 per cent of forest fires in Indonesia are caused by slash-and-burn farming, which is favoured as it is the cheapest land clearing method; using machines costs 40 times more.

In year 2010/11, around 49.9 million metric tons of palm oil were produced, 90 per cent of which came from Indonesia (51 per cent), Malaysia (36 per cent) and Thailand (3 per cent). However, the consumption also happens far beyond South-east Asia.

The largest palm oil consumers include India, Indonesia, China, the European Union, Malaysia, Pakistan, Nigeria and Thailand.

Consumers in these countries may have to increasingly demand for haze-free palm oil to place more pressure on producers to abandon slash-and-burn practices.

There are palm oil companies from Malaysia and Singapore, as well as some multinational corporations. Several leading ones are publicly listed companies. In other words, the money used for their plantation activities are from numerous investors.

There are many signatories to the United Nations-backed Principles of Responsible Investment. However, only a few socially responsible investors have been keen on the palm oil sector from a sustainability perspective, and have tended to invest only in those responsible companies.

In 2011, 12 per cent of palm oil produced was certified sustainable, but only half of that was purchased.

To facilitate haze-free palm oil consumption and investment, relevant government agencies, non-government organisations and civil society should do more to help consumers and investors identify the good and bad guys. Public awareness must be fostered.

Notably, the not-for-profit Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) was set up in 2004 to create a set of working criteria for all stakeholders, including growers, processors, buyers, investors and NGOs.

In the future, the RSPO may wish to consider special certification for haze-free palm oil products and companies. Environmental pollution has no borders and local environmental protection efforts should be supported globally.

We can all contribute to a haze-free South-east Asia through responsible palm oil consumption and investment decisions.

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