1. The Twenty-fifth Meeting of the Sub-Regional Ministerial Steering Committee on Transboundary Haze Pollution (25^th MSC) was held on 3 July 2024 in Bangkok, Thailand. The Meeting was attended by Ministers, senior officials and/or representatives for land, forest fires and haze, from Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand, and the Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN Secretariat, under the Chairpersonship of H.E. Pol. Gen. Phatcharavat Wongsuwan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, Thailand. Timor-Leste also attended as Observer. The Twenty-fifth Meeting of the Technical Working Group on Transboundary Haze Pollution (25^th TWG) preceded the Meeting.
2. The Meeting noted the ASEAN Specialised Meteorological Centre’s (ASMC’s) weather and smoke haze review, as well as outlook for the southern ASEAN region. The hotspot counts for the region in 2023 was around three times higher than in 2022 due to the prolonged dry season, contributed by El Niño conditions and a positive Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD). As a result, smoke haze was observed in parts of this region on some days in 2023. ASMC reported that the ENSO status is currently neutral (neither El Niño nor La Niña), and is expected to remain neutral till July 2024, with a potential for La Niña conditions thereafter. Based on latest climate outlooks, ASMC expects above-normal rainfall over most parts of the southern ASEAN region in the coming months. Nonetheless, there continues to be a risk of transboundary haze occurrence as hotspots with smoke plumes/haze can still be expected over fire-prone areas, particularly during periods of drier conditions. The Meeting further noted ASMC’s continuous efforts to improve its products and services which support fires/haze monitoring, assessment and early warning, weather and climate prediction in the ASEAN region, as well as providing regional capability-building programme. ASMC shared upcoming changes to satellite tools for fires and haze detection in the region and presented on the use of the Geostationary Environment Monitoring Spectrometer (GEMS) for aerosol observations, as well as the development of burnt area products.

Download the full media release here.