From September to November of 1997, raging fires in Indonesia pumped enough smoke into the air to blanket the entire region in haze, reaching as far north as southern Thailand and the Philippines, with Malaysia and Singapore being particularly affected. This book conservatively assesses the damage at US $4.5 billion, more than the Exxon Valdez oil spill and India's Bhopal chemical spill combined. It looks at the causes of the fires, the physical damages that resulted, and their effects on heath, industrial production, and tourism, among others.

This publication, a joint effort of ADB and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), brings together the current knowledge about land and forest fires, examines their causes and impacts with particular reference to Southeast Asia, and suggests what could happen in the future.

Nearly ten million hectares were burned by fires that engulfed areas of Indonesia in 1997 and 1998. This report shows that the fires were the direct outcome of forest and land-use policies and practices unleashed by the Suharto regime and perpetuated by a corrupt culture of crony capitalism.

The international community has come together to pursue certain fundamental, common goals over the coming period to 2030 to make progress toward ending poverty and hunger, improving social and economic well-being, preserving the environment and combating climate change, and maintaining peace. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been agreed to by states, which have in turn adopted national targets and action plans. This volume studies the governance and implementation of these goals in Southeast Asia, in particular the difficulties in the shift from the international to the national, the multi-level challenges of implementation, and the involvement of stakeholders, civil society, and citizens in the process. Contributors to this volume are scholars from across Southeast Asia who research these issues in developing (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar), middle-income (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam), and developed countries (Brunei, Singapore) in the region. The perspectives on governance and the SDGs emerge from the fields of political science, international relations, geography, economics, law, health, and the natural sciences.