Debated in Parliament on 12 Nov 2012.
Mr Yee Jenn Jong asked the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources (a) what are the exact plans and timeline that ASEAN has to exert commercial pressures on plantation owners to practise responsible land clearing; and (b) if the Ministry will consider amending the Environmental Protection and Management Act to give powers to our authorities to prosecute Singapore-linked companies or Singaporeans who are found to have practised illegal burning activities in neighbouring countries.
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All ASEAN countries have ratified the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution, except for Indonesia.
A sub-regional Ministerial Steering Committee on Transboundary Haze Pollution has been meeting regularly since 2006 to co-ordinate projects to mitigate this problem. At the recent 14th MSC Meeting on 31 October 2012 in Bali, MSC Ministers agreed to facilitate more deterrent and effective enforcement measures. Ministers agreed to explore the sharing of digital geo-referenced concession maps and leverage on satellite and mapping technologies to monitor hotspots in order to hold plantation companies and land owners accountable for their land-clearing activities. A technical task force, comprising technical experts from the forestry, meteorological services and environment sectors of the five MSC countries4, would be formed to study the implementation details.
All commercial companies, regardless of ownership, must comply with the laws of their host countries and be held accountable if they cause transboundary haze pollution. All ASEAN countries, including Indonesia, already have domestic legislation which prohibits the use of fire for forest clearance. The gathering of evidence and prosecution will be most effective if assiduously pursued by local authorities. Unfortunately, commercial companies will take advantage of situations where there is weak enforcement on the ground and a lack of political will at the national level. There are currently no legal sanctions which Singapore can apply against plantation companies whose extra-territorial actions affect our local environment. However, we will support the investigation and prosecution of errant companies in their host jurisdictions, and will co-operate fully with the relevant authorities to do so.
There is scope for commercial pressure to be applied. Corporate behaviour is most effectively shaped by market forces. If consumers become increasingly environment-conscious and demand products that come from sustainable sources, companies would have little choice but to align their production and supply chain practices in order to protect the fragile eco-system and to avoid damaging public health of millions of citizens. Therefore, stakeholders such as manufacturers, retailers, non-government organisations, investors, bankers and consumers, all have a crucial role to play in resolving this chronic problem.
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