STUDY LINKS INDONESIAN WILDFIRE SMOKE TO 3,560 DEATHS

The Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) estimates that smoke from forest and land fires caused 3,560 deaths in Indonesia in September 2026. The Helsinki-based think tank said 57.8 million people breathed air it classified as unhealthy to hazardous during the month. It estimated another 1,750 deaths from urban and industrial air pollution, bringing its September total to 5,310. CREA put the August total at 3,740, making its September estimate 42 per cent higher.

CREA based its fire-related death estimate on short-term exposure to PM2.5 pollution, counting deaths occurring within days of exposure. It attributed most of those deaths to fires on Indonesia’s part of Borneo, on Sumatra and Java, and in the country’s east. Fire smoke accounted for 94 to 99 per cent of the estimated air pollution deaths in Kalimantan, on Borneo, and more than 80 per cent on Sumatra, the study found. On Java, CREA attributed most estimated deaths to urban and industrial emissions. “Citizens inhaling hazardous-level air in Kalimantan alone nearly tripled from 2.8 million to 6.4 million during the worst days of the month,” it said.

Indonesia has faced forest and land fires for several months during severe drought and an El Niño weather pattern. Smoke from the fires has spread across the archipelago and raised pollution levels in Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines and East Timor. CREA’s estimates cover September alone in a country of around 278 million people. The government in Jakarta faces criticism over its response to the fires.