Forest fires that raged across Indonesia dented Southeast Asia's biggest economy to the tune of some US$5.2 billion, the World Bank said Wednesday, not including the health impacts from toxic haze that sent air quality plummeting.The fires are an annual problem but this year was the worst since 2015 due to dry weather, with 942,000 hectares (2.3 million acres) of land, mostly on Sumatra and Borneo islands, razed by the out-of-control blazes. Authorities deployed tens of thousand

Despite the devastating impact that single-use plastic has on the environment, none of ASEAN’s 10 member countries are anywhere near joining the 80 other countries which have implemented complete nation-wide bans on it.Half of all plastic produced is designed to be used only once before being thrown away, and only a dismal nine percent of plastic produced globally since 1950 has been recycled – with the remaining either incinerated or ending up in landfills, dumps or marine environments.With

The oceans face a growing threat from plastics.

A major mercury leak, tap water contamination, and “alarming” levels of haze: several pollution crises in Hanoi have sparked public fury and accusations that communist Vietnam is putting the economy ahead of the environment.Long tapped as an investors’ paradise thanks to its low-cost labour and pro-business policies, rapidly industrialising Vietnam is one of Asia’s fastest growing economies.Buoyed by exports of cheaply made goods from Nike shoes to Samsung phones and H&M T-shirts, gro

A leading air quality monitoring app was removed from Vietnam's Apple and Google stores after it said it was attacked in a "coordinated campaign" for posting pollution data from the country's smog-choked capital.AirVisual's Facebook page was also taken down in Vietnam after a deluge of messages from users accusing the site of publishing unreliable data in a bid to sell its products. Air quality levels in Hanoi reached "unhealthy" levels for several

Air pollution from Indonesian forest fires is putting nearly 10 million children at risk, the United Nations warned Tuesday, as scientists said the blazes were releasing vast amounts of greenhouse gases.The fires have been spewing toxic haze over Southeast Asia in recent weeks, closing schools and airports, with people rushing to buy face masks and seek medical treatment for respiratory ailments.Jakarta has deployed tens of thousands of personnel and water-bombing aircraft to tackle the slash

Malaysia is home to important habitats for marine turtles such as nesting beaches for the laying of eggs and coral reefs and seagrass beds as their feeding grounds. According to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Malaysia, the country hosts four out of the seven species of marine turtles found in the world, which are the green, hawksbill, olive ridley and leatherback turtles. Marine turtles are vital for ocean ecosystems.

Thailand could be the next major ASEAN city to move its capital.

Skipping school to glide through a dirty Bangkok canal on a paddleboard, Lilly fishes out rubbish in her mission to clean up Thailand, where the average person uses eight plastic bags every single day."I am a kid at war," the bubbly 12-year-old says after a painstaking hour-long routine picking up cans, bags and bottles bobbing in the canal."I try to stay optimistic but I am also angry.

Indonesia has arrested nearly 200 people over vast forest fires ripping across the archipelago, police said Monday, as toxic haze sends air quality levels plummeting and sparks flight cancellations.Jakarta has deployed thousands of personnel to battle blazes that are turning land into charred landscapes and consuming forests in Sumatra and Borneo islands, where thousands of schools have been shut over health fears.The fires – usually started by illegal burning to clear land for farming – have