Analyst: Indonesia Needs Stronger Diplomacy to Address Forest Fires

RRI.CO.ID, Jakarta - International relations analyst, Teuku Rezasyah, said Indonesia needs to strengthen diplomatic communication with ASEAN countries following Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam’s decision to raise the issue of Indonesia’s forest and land fires to the ASEAN level. He said the ASEAN mechanism upholds the principle of respecting each country’s authority to manage environmental sustainability within its own territory.

“The best practices currently being implemented by Indonesia need to be communicated to its ASEAN partners,” Rezasyah told RRI Voice of Indonesia on Tuesday, August 25, 2026.

Rezasyah said Indonesia needs to strengthen cooperation with ASEAN countries in addressing forest and land fires, as well as their cross-border haze impacts, or transboundary haze. He also said Indonesia needs to combine top-down and bottom-up approaches to accelerate the implementation of the Second ASEAN Haze-Free Roadmap 2023–2030.

“Going forward, Indonesia needs to seriously develop a combination of two approaches, namely top-down and bottom-up, to accelerate the implementation of the Second ASEAN Haze-Free Roadmap 2023–2030,” he said.

Rezasyah hopes the implementation of the Second ASEAN Haze-Free Roadmap 2023–2030 will produce an ASEAN Environmental Declaration every year, outlining the achievements and challenges faced by member states.

“This cooperation within ASEAN is expected to eventually become the foundation for an ASEAN Environmental Parliament that operates democratically and sustainably,” he said.

He added that stronger environmental cooperation at the ASEAN level could serve as a foundation for establishing a stronger, democratic, and sustainable regional mechanism to address environmental issues, including forest and land fires and their cross-border haze impacts.