OCTOBER 12 — This year is the 41st anniversary of the World Resources Institute (WRI). It was founded by Gus Speth in 1982 in Washington, DC.
His vision was not of creating an activist organisation, but establishing a science- and evidence-based institution that would carry out rigorous policy research of global environmental and development.
WRI has remained true to its founding mission of moving human society in ways that protect Earth’s environment and its capacity to provide for the needs and aspirations of current and future generations.
In its early years, WRI was one of the first organisations – if not the first – to recognise that man had to be taken into account to have any lasting success in dealing with environmental problems.
“You have to harmonise the interests of man and nature in order for either to succeed,” said its former head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and WRI Board chair, Bill Ruckelshaus.
Over the years, WRI made overtures to the corporate world to explore ways of harnessing market forces to protect natural resources – again, one of the first environmental organisations to do so.
Recognising that to be a truly global organisation, it needed to be on the ground in countries at the frontlines of natural resource constraints, WRI established an office in Beijing in 2008.
It expanded its global presence with offices in India (2012), Europe and Brazil (2013), Indonesia (2015), Mexico (2016), and Africa (2017).
In 2014, WRI was already providing ongoing analysis and data on the fires through Global Forest Watch-Fires, an online platform for monitoring and responding to forest and land fires in South-east Asia using near real-time information.
When Singapore’s Parliament passed the Transboundary Haze Pollution Act 2014, which allows regulators to prosecute companies and individuals that cause severe air pollution in Singapore by burning forests and peatlands in neighbouring countries, WRI’s Global Director for Forests Program, Nigel Sizer issued the following statement:
“Singapore’s transboundary haze law marks a new way of doing business for governments and companies seeking to address forest and peat fires. It sends a powerful message that those who burn land and forests illegally will be held accountable. In particular, any companies caught using fire illegally now face the massive reputational risk of being dragged into court in Singapore as soon as their executives step foot on the island. Their customers, bankers and insurers will surely shy away from doing business with them.
“The causes of fires and haze in Southeast Asia are complex and difficult to address. For many decades these fires have been used to clear land for agricultural expansion into forests and peatlands, and as a tool in conflict between companies and communities over land. Over the past two years, especially high concentrations of fires in Riau Province, Indonesia, have taken a deep toll, in terms of human health, environmental degradation, and economic damage.
“Although the new law alone will not address all the deep-rooted causes of the fires, it contributes to a larger positive trend in the way governments and companies are dealing with the fires. The Indonesian government, for example, has made serious investments in their national Karhutla (Land and Forest Fires) Monitoring System. This includes a ‘situation room’ where fires and weather conditions are monitored in real time using tools like Global Forest Watch-Fires. Ultra high-resolution satellites are documenting individual fires and gathering high-quality evidence of possible wrongdoing. As a result, oil palm, timber, and pulpwood companies are making significant no-fires and no-deforestation commitments.
“The message is becoming increasingly clear for individuals and companies that burn land illegally – playing with fire has serious consequences.”
So, again, it is mind boggling that Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change Minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad should say that the transboundary haze issue choking Malaysia cannot be solved by the enactment of laws alone.
While law alone is not enough, it can contribute to “a larger positive trend in the way governments and companies are dealing with the fires” and “marks a new way of doing business for governments and companies”.
Importantly, the law can send a powerful message that if you – be you individuals or companies – burn land and forests illegally you will be held accountable.
Is that difficult to fathom?
*This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.
