Indonesia to push for ratification of Asean haze centre agreement

JAKARTA: Indonesia will push for the ratification of an agreement to operationalise the Asean Coordinating Centre for Transboundary Haze Pollution Control (ACCTHPC) at the 49th Asean Summit in Manila.

Foreign Ministry Director-General for Asean Cooperation Ina Krisnamurthi said the centre already had a secretariat in Jakarta but could not begin operations until Asean member states ratified the agreement.

She said at least six member states must ratify the agreement before it can take effect, but so far only Vietnam has completed the process.

"The centre must be up and running. Otherwise, there is no point in establishing a centre that cannot function. We must immediately implement what we have envisioned through this centre," she said on Wednesday, according to Antara news agency.

Ina described the centre as a potential game changer in strengthening the Asean Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution (AATHP), which came into force in 2003.

"The centre will be a game changer, strengthening the agreement Asean established in 2003, followed by the monitoring system Indonesia pushed for in 2013. We continued to push for it again in 2023," she said.