Indonesia’s Kalimantan and Sumatra Fires Emit 19.7 Mt CO₂ in One Week

Jakarta, 10 September 2026 – The Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) released data on Monday showing that wildfires raging across Indonesia’s islands of Kalimantan and Sumatra emitted an estimated 19.7 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide between 1 September and 7 September. The figure represents the largest weekly fire‑related emission total recorded worldwide this year and accounts for more than one‑third of all fire‑related carbon output globally during the same period.

Indonesia’s Ministry of Environment and Forestry confirmed that the fires are largely confined to peatland areas in the province of Central Kalimantan and the Riau region of Sumatra. Officials attribute the ignition to a combination of illegal slash‑and‑burn clearing for oil‑palm plantations and prolonged dry conditions linked to an El Niño‑driven drought. While the government has deployed additional firefighting crews and aerial water drops, it warned that limited access to remote peat swamps and the sheer scale of the burning make containment difficult. Environmental NGOs, including Greenpeace Indonesia, have urged the authorities to enforce stricter penalties on land‑clearing practices and to allocate more resources for preventive measures such as controlled burns and peatland restoration.

The phenomenon underscores the complex role that wildfires play in forest ecosystems. In many natural settings, low‑intensity fires can clear underbrush, recycle nutrients and promote the regeneration of fire‑adapted species. Modern forest management, therefore, often incorporates prescribed burns to mimic these natural processes while reducing the risk of uncontrolled blazes. However, when such burns escape containment or when human activities ignite fires in fuel‑laden landscapes—especially peat soils that store carbon for millennia—the result can be catastrophic. The current Indonesian fires have been amplified by a recent cycle of heavy rains that produced abundant vegetation, followed by an extended dry spell that dried out both surface fuels and deep peat layers, creating conditions ripe for severe combustion.

Climate change is increasingly recognized as a catalyst for more frequent and intense wildfire events worldwide. Rising temperatures and shifting precipitation patterns extend drought periods and raise the likelihood that ignitions, whether accidental or deliberate, will develop into large‑scale conflagrations. In Indonesia, the expansion of agricultural frontiers into peatlands has also reduced the natural moisture buffer that historically limited fire spread. Critics argue that insufficient funding for fire‑prevention equipment and a lack of coordinated monitoring across provincial boundaries have further weakened Indonesia’s capacity to mitigate such outbreaks.

International observers note that the emissions from the Indonesian fires have implications beyond the archipelago. The thick haze generated by the burning peat has already drifted northward, affecting air quality in neighboring Malaysia and Singapore, and is expected to reach southern Taiwan in the coming days. Regional health agencies have issued advisories for residents with respiratory conditions to limit outdoor activity. Moreover, the carbon released contributes to global greenhouse‑gas concentrations, undermining the objectives of the Paris Agreement and complicating efforts by Asian economies to transition to lower‑carbon pathways.

For Taiwan, the situation carries several practical concerns. The island’s export‑driven economy relies on stable supply chains for raw materials such as palm oil and timber, both of which are sourced in part from Indonesia. Disruptions caused by fire‑related transport delays or export restrictions could affect downstream industries, including food processing and furniture manufacturing. Additionally, transboundary haze poses short‑term public‑health risks and may strain cross‑strait diplomatic engagements on environmental cooperation. As regional climate impacts intensify, Taiwan’s own disaster‑response and air‑quality monitoring systems will likely need to adapt to the increasing likelihood of distant fires influencing local conditions.