Greenpeace Malaysia and Himpunan Advocacy Rakyat Malaysia (HARAM) have called on the Indonesian government to publicly disclose companies under investigation over forest and land fires, saying greater transparency is needed to establish corporate accountability as transboundary haze continues to affect Malaysia.
The two groups staged a peaceful protest outside the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur today before submitting a memorandum calling for the disclosure of fire locations, concession maps, investigation findings and concession ownership information.
According to the groups, Indonesian authorities announced on Aug 31 that they were investigating 19 companies holding concessions where fires had affected 11,047 hectares across seven provinces.
Authorities had also identified 42 companies holding concessions considered to have high wildfire potential, they said, but the identities of the companies under investigation have not been publicly disclosed.
Greenpeace Malaysia and HARAM said evidence gathered by Indonesian authorities should be made available to affected countries, including Malaysia, so regulators can determine whether companies within their jurisdictions or supply chains have links to the fires.
In their memorandum, the groups urged Indonesia to formally disclose concession maps, hotspots, fire investigation data and any evidence identifying Malaysian-linked companies associated with fires and haze in the country.
They also called on Jakarta to publicly identify any Malaysian companies it believes are involved, allowing Malaysian regulators, Parliament and civil society to pursue accountability domestically.
Greenpeace Malaysia and HARAM proposed that such evidence be shared with the Malaysian government on an ongoing basis through existing mechanisms under the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution (AATHP) or through bilateral channels.
Both countries should adopt a principle of reciprocal disclosure and enforcement, they said, under which each government investigates and holds accountable companies domiciled within its own jurisdiction based on evidence openly exchanged between the two sides.
Greenpeace Malaysia campaign lead Heng Kiah Chun said the protest should not be interpreted as an attempt to blame Indonesia.
“This protest is not about blaming Indonesia for the haze. We understand and acknowledge that Indonesian communities are suffering from these fires too,” Heng said.
“We are here because the Indonesian government holds information that could help us understand who is responsible, and we are asking them to publicly disclose that evidence.”
He said that if Malaysian companies were implicated, the groups would bring the evidence back to Malaysia and demand action from Malaysian authorities.
“The haze does not stop at Indonesia’s borders, and neither should accountability,” he said.
The groups also called on the Malaysian government to act on credible evidence provided by Indonesia and ensure that Malaysian companies cannot escape accountability merely because environmental damage occurs outside the country’s borders.
They argued that where credible evidence links Malaysian corporate actors to forest fires, peatland degradation or transboundary haze, domestic authorities should have the necessary legal powers and mechanisms to investigate and, where appropriate, take legal action.
The recurring haze problem, they said, strengthens the case for a comprehensive Malaysian legal framework or other mechanisms capable of addressing transboundary haze pollution and cross-border corporate responsibility.
Heng said the broader issue was determining who ultimately bears the costs when companies profit from land and commodities while forests and peatlands burn.
HARAM spokesperson Brendon Gan argued that weaknesses in enforcement allowed environmental damage to occur without sufficient legal consequences.
“This isn’t a climate problem, it’s an enforcement and political problem,” Gan said, adding that ordinary citizens, workers, students and children in both Malaysia and Indonesia ultimately suffer from the haze.
“Clean air doesn’t have a passport, nor does environmental devastation. We stand firmly in solidarity with the communities in Indonesia who are affected by these fires,” he said.
The organisations said the latest transboundary haze episode also represented a test of ASEAN’s commitment to environmental rights.
They pointed to the ASEAN Declaration on the Right to a Safe, Clean, Healthy and Sustainable Environment, adopted by member states in 2025, which recognised the growing need to address transboundary environmental concerns.
Greenpeace research had previously documented fire hotspots within plantations linked to Malaysian and Singaporean corporations, while Indonesia’s Environment and Forestry Ministry sealed land belonging to several companies during the 2019 forest fires, including foreign-linked companies associated with Malaysia and Singapore.
