Sime Darby Berhad is a Malaysian trading conglomerate. Its core businesses operate and serve in the industrial, motors and logistics sectors as well as the healthcare, and insurance segments.
IOI Corporation Berhad, commonly referred to as IOI, was incorporated on 31 October 1969 as Industrial Oxygen Incorporated Sdn Bhd. IOI is one of Malaysia's biggest conglomerates. It ventured into oil palm plantations in 1983, followed by property development in 1984 and refineries in 1997. IOI was listed on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (KLSE) and trading as MYX: 1961—now known as Bursa Malaysia—in 1980.
The ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution is a legally binding environmental agreement signed in 2002 by the member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to reduce haze pollution in Southeast Asia. The Agreement recognises that transboundary haze pollution which results from land and/or forest fires should be mitigated through concerted national efforts and international co-operation.
The Southeast Asian haze is a fire-related recurrent transboundary air pollution issue. Haze events, where air quality reaches hazardous levels due to high concentrations of airborne particulate matter from burning biomass, have caused adverse health, environmental and economic impacts in several countries in Southeast Asia. Caused primarily by slash-and-burn land clearing, the problem flares up every dry season to varying degrees and generally is worst between July and October and during El Niño events. Transboundary haze in Southeast Asia has been recorded since 1972 with the 1997 and 2015 events being particularly severe.
Palm oil, produced from the oil palm, is a basic source of income for many farmers in South East Asia, Central and West Africa, and Central America. It is locally used as cooking oil, exported for use in much commercial food and personal care products and is converted into biofuel. It produces up to 10 times more oil per unit area than soybeans, rapeseed or sunflowers.
Kuala Lumpur Kepong Berhad (KLK) is a Malaysian multi-national company. The core business of the group is plantation. The company has plantations that cover more than 250,000 hectares in Malaysia and Indonesia. Since the 1990s, the company has diversified its business activities such as resource-based manufacturing, property development and retailing with worldwide presence. The company is listed on the Bursa Malaysia and is Malaysia's third-largest palm oil producer. KLK was ranked 1858th in the 2013 Forbes Global 2000 Leading Companies, with market cap of US$6.91 billion. In 2014, KLK was ranked 23rd most valuable Malaysia brand on the Malaysia 100 2014 with a brand value of US$364 million. The late Thong Yaw Hong, (former) secretary general of the Malaysian Treasury, sat on the board of KLK. Lee Oi Hian, the CEO of KLK, is or was chairman of the board of trustees of the Malaysian Palm Oil Council.
Royal Golden Eagle is a global integrated, resource-based industrial group, with businesses in paper, palm oil, viscose, construction and energy, property and asset management. Owned by Indonesian businessman Sukanto Tanoto, the group employs 80,000 people worldwide with assets exceeding US$35 billion.
Giam Siak Kecil-Bukit Batu Bioreserve is a peatland area in Riau Province of Sumatra, covering 705,271 hectares (2,723.07 sq mi) and large parts of Bengkalis Regency and Siak Regency. It is a declared UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Reserve and supports a sustainable timber industry. It is home to two wildlife reserves, namely Giam Siak Wildlife Reserve and Bukit Batu Wildlife Reserve; flagship species include the Sumatran elephant and Sumatran tiger.
The Bakrie Group is an Indonesian conglomerate founded by Achmad Bakrie in 1942. It has interests across various industries including mining, oil and gas, property development, infrastructure, plantations, media and telecommunications. The group is one of the largest business groups in Indonesia, with 10 companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange.
Palm oil production is important to the economy of Indonesia as the country is the world's biggest producer and consumer of the commodity, providing about half of the world's supply. In 2016, Indonesia produced over 34.6 million metric tons of palm oil, and exported 25.1 million metric tons of it. Oil palm plantations stretch across at least 12 million hectares. There are several different types of plantations, including small, privately owned plantations, and larger, state-owned plantations. There are a variety of health, environmental, and societal impacts that result from the production of palm oil in Indonesia. A recent publication by the NGO Rainforest Action Network (RAN) indicates that the use of palm oil by some of the biggest chocolate and snacks' producers is increasing this problem.
The 2015 Southeast Asian haze was an air pollution crisis affecting several countries in Southeast Asia, including Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, southern Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and the Philippines.
Global Forest Watch (GFW) is an open-source web application to monitor global forests in near real-time. GFW is an initiative of the World Resources Institute (WRI), with partners including Google, USAID, the University of Maryland (UMD), Esri, Vizzuality and many other academic, non-profit, public, and private organizations.
Duta Palma is a palm oil company from Indonesia. It is a subsidiary of Darmex Agro Holdings. It has significant land banks.
Makin Group is a palm oil company from Indonesia. It is based in Jakarta. In Jambi province, Makin Group reportedly operates or used to operate on peatlands.
PT Adei Plantation and Industry is a palm oil company from Indonesia. It is a subsidiary of Malaysia's Kuala Lumpur Kepong Berhad (KLK).
TH Plantations Berhad is a Malaysian palm oil company. It was established in 1972. It has major activity in Indonesia. Its chairman is Yusof Basiran. There was fire on its land in 2013. It is owned at 73.83% by the government-run Tabung Haji (2016). A notable director is Dato' Noordin bin Md Noor, who has long-standing activity in politics.
Golden-Agri Resources (GAR) is a Singaporean palm oil company, listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange since 1999. In May 2015, its market capitalization was $4.1 billion. Franky Widjaja, of the Sinar Mas family is its CEO. Alnoor is a subsidiary of GAR. Lew Syn Pau used to serve as a member of the Singaporean Parliament for 13 years and is a member of the board of directors of the firm.
Bakrie Sumatera Plantations is an agricultural subsidiary of Bakrie Group headquartered in Jakarta, Indonesia. Bakrie Sumatera Plantations manages an estimated one hundred thousand hectares of rubber and palm oil plantations, a railroad for transporting rubber, and several land banks.
People's Movement to Stop Haze (PM.Haze) is a non-governmental organisation based in Singapore. It was founded in 2014 in response to the 2013 Southeast Asian haze, which has been recognised as one of the most serious haze episodes in over 16 years. PM.Haze started its work with an investigative research project to fire-prone areas in Riau Province, Indonesia and identified peatland degradation due to mismanagement of concession lands by irresponsible companies as the fundamental cause of the fires in the areas and the resulting transboundary haze pollution. In 2016, it became registered as a society. In 2017, it underwent a rebranding exercise and adopted a new logo to symbolise a constant flow for fresh, clean air with an arrow pointed upward to represent constructive action towards this. PM.Haze was mentioned by Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Masagos Zulkifli as he delivered Singapore's national statement at the United Nations Environment Assembly in Nairobi in December 2017.
The 2010 Southeast Asian haze was an air pollution crisis which affected many Southeast Asia countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore during the month of October in 2010.
