Global demand for wood pellets and pulp is fuelling a resurgence in deforestation in Kalimantan, home to the Indigenous Dayak community and critically-endangered orangutans. The firm responsible has murky ties to Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysian entities, NGOs claim.
The El Niño weather phenomenon, smouldering peatlands, coal power and vehicular pollution caused a big drop in air quality in Southeast Asia in 2023. In Indonesia, Southeast Asia's most polluted country, air quality fell by 20 per cent.
A 1°C warmer Singapore will result in an 88 per cent increase in economic losses to heat stress, which also negatively affects fertility, research by National University of Singapore finds.
The government of Sabah state in Malaysian Borneo will continue to move forward with an opaque nature conservation agreement despite concerns raised by the United Nations.