{"id":3636,"date":"2020-09-09T12:42:04","date_gmt":"2020-09-09T04:42:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/malaysia\/?p=3636"},"modified":"2025-03-26T12:02:21","modified_gmt":"2025-03-26T04:02:21","slug":"forest-fires-haze-new-greenpeace-report-reveals-alarming-health-impacts-and-links-to-severity-of-covid-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/malaysia\/press\/3636\/forest-fires-haze-new-greenpeace-report-reveals-alarming-health-impacts-and-links-to-severity-of-covid-19\/","title":{"rendered":"Forest Fires Haze: New Greenpeace report reveals alarming health impacts and links to severity of COVID-19"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Jakarta, 9 September 2020 <\/strong>\u2013 Governments in Southeast Asia have massively downplayed the health impacts of Indonesia\u2019s forest and peatland fires according to a new report released today by Greenpeace Southeast Asia. The \u2018Burning Up\u2019 report<\/a> provides a comprehensive analysis of two decades of scientific research from published sources, exposing the deadly legacy that decades of deforestation and forest fires has had on the health of people living in the region. The report also raises concerns that air pollution from forest fires could be heightening the risk of Covid-19 infections and worsening their severity.

A nationwide study carried out in the US<\/a> by researchers from Harvard University released in April 2020, and another covering all 355 municipalities of the Netherlands<\/a> released in June 2020, found that a small increase in air pollution was associated with a measurable increase in the COVID-19 death rate. The \u2018Burning Up\u2019 report presents the latest scientific thinking that explains why air pollution can increase people\u2019s vulnerability to Covid-19. One reason may be that lung cells exposed to air pollution produce more of a receptor or \u2018door\u2019 called ACE2. The Covid-19 virus infects cells by using its spikes as a \u2018key\u2019 to unlock this \u2018door\u2019.

\u2018Burning Up\u2019 examines the impact of Indonesia\u2019s forest fires on its neighbours. Seven out of 10 countries belonging to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have been affected by the smoke haze caused by the fires. Health studies on the impact of Indonesia\u2019s recurring transboundary pollution in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Brunei have shown that the haze causes wide-ranging health problems including lung conditions and cardiovascular disease. Doctors have noted that such \u2018preexisting conditions\u2019 make Covid-19 more deadly.

After the devastating 2015 fire season, Indonesia\u2019s official death toll was put at just 24 lives lost. However, in 2016, epidemiologists from Harvard and Columbia, estimated that tens of thousands of people died from smoke exposure <\/a>.Scientists said that the fires of 2015 had created \u201cperhaps the worst sustained air quality ever recorded worldwide<\/a>\u201d.

Greenpeace Indonesia\u2019s Forest Campaigner Rusmadya Maharuddin said:
\u201cThe fires which follow the destruction of our forests and peatlands for oil palm and pulpwood plantations cause needless death and suffering. We know that Covid-19 can be deadly for people with pre-existing health conditions but after years of breathing this smoke, it feels like we are going into the fight with one arm tied behind our back. Studies show forest fire smoke is harming children\u2019s health in Indonesia and now pediatricians are saying poor health is to blame for the country having <\/em>one of the highest Covid-19 death rates among children<\/em><\/a>\u201d.

Greenpeace Thailand Country Director, Tara Buakamsri said:

\u201cTens of thousands of Thai people have fallen sick because of the transboundary haze from Indonesia. While the scientific community is urging countries to reduce emissions from deforestation and protect peatland, Indonesia is going in the opposite direction. Destructive plantation companies continue to flout the law and go unpunished. It is time that ASEAN leaders prioritize people\u2019s lives over corporate interest and demand that Indonesia discloses information on who controls the land where the fires are happening. ASEAN governments can then hold foreign companies to account for the plantations they operate in Indonesia\u201d.<\/em>

Greenpeace Malaysia campaigner Heng Kiah Chun said:

\u201cThe smoke from Indonesia\u2019s forest fires in 2015 caused thousands of deaths but back then our government said the number was zero. The dirty truth is that Malaysian plantation companies are still contributing to the deadly haze. We can\u2019t keep putting on masks year after year. We must have a domestic Transboundary Haze Pollution Act now.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n

Notes<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n

  1. Summary of Burning Up<\/a>: Health Impact of Indonesia\u2019s Forest Fires and Implications for the Covid-19 Pandemic. To download the full report: http:\/\/act.gp\/BurningUp<\/a>  <\/li>
  2. Link to photos <\/a><\/li><\/ol>\n\n

    Contacts<\/strong>
    Sol Gosetti, International Communications Coordinator, Indonesia Forest campaign, Greenpeace Southeast Asia
    E:     sol.gosetti@greenpeace.org<\/a> M: +44 (0) 7807352020

    Therese Salvador, Media Relations Coordinator, Greenpeace Southeast Asia
    E:     tsalvado@greenpeace.org<\/a>  M: +63917-8228734<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Governments in Southeast Asia have massively downplayed the health impacts of Indonesia\u2019s forest and peatland fires according to a new report released today by Greenpeace Southeast Asia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":3637,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"p4_og_title":"","p4_og_description":"","p4_og_image":"","p4_og_image_id":"","p4_seo_canonical_url":"","p4_campaign_name":"not set","p4_local_project":"not set","p4_basket_name":"not set","p4_department":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[131],"tags":[75,19,108],"p4-page-type":[14],"class_list":["post-3636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-climate-and-pollution","tag-air-pollution","tag-forests","tag-human-rights","p4-page-type-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/malaysia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3636","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/malaysia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/malaysia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/malaysia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/malaysia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3636"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/malaysia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3636\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3649,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/malaysia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3636\/revisions\/3649"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/malaysia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/malaysia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/malaysia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/malaysia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3636"},{"taxonomy":"p4-page-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/malaysia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/p4-page-type?post=3636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}