- The Fourteenth Meeting of the Sub-Regional Ministerial Steering Committee on Transboundary Haze Pollution in the Mekong Sub-Region (14th MSC Mekong) was held on 25 June 2026 in Vientiane, Lao PDR. The Meeting was graced by the Honourable Prime Minister of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, H.E Sonexay Siphandone, and attended by H.E. Dr. Linkham Douangsavanh, Minister of Agriculture and Environment of Lao PDR and high-level representatives for land, forest fires and haze from Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, and Viet Nam, and the Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN for ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community, under the Chairpersonship of H.E. Dr. Saynakhone Inthavong, Vice Minister of Agriculture and Environment of Lao PDR. The Twentieth Meeting of the Technical Working Group on Transboundary Haze Pollution in the Mekong Sub-Region (20th TWG Mekong) preceded the Meeting.
- The Meeting noted the ASEAN Specialised Meteorological Centre’s (ASMC’s) review and outlook of the weather and smoke haze situation in the Mekong sub-region from 2025 to 2026. During the 2025 dry season, overall hotspot count for the Mekong sub-region was around 34% lower in 2025 as compared to 2024. Nonetheless, Alert Level 3 was issued on 17 March 2025 and widespread transboundary smoke haze was observed to affect Myanmar and Thailand as well as the northern parts of Lao PDR and Viet Nam on many days. In the subsequent dry season, from December 2025 to May 2026, the hotspot count rose by around 8% compared to the same period in 2025. Alert Level 3 was issued on 27 March 2026 followed by widespread transboundary smoke haze across much of the sub-region, particularly over eastern Myanmar and the northern parts of Thailand, Lao PDR and Viet Nam. The El Niño conditions have set in as of June 2026 and likely to become strong from August – September 2026 with positive IOD is predicted to develop in July – August 2026. While drier conditions may occur across many parts of the sub-region towards the end of the year, the hotspot and smoke haze situation over the Mekong sub-region is still expected to remain subdued during its traditional wet season. The Meeting further noted upcoming changes to satellite tools for fires and haze detection in the region, the improvement of ASMC’s haze dispersion model, the development of burnt area products, and the refinement to its ENSO monitoring. The Meeting welcomed the initiatives under regional capacity-building programme, including the ASMC attachment programmes.
- The Meeting expressed appreciation to the ASEAN Member States’ collective efforts in reducing fire hotspots and controlling transboundary haze pollution in the Mekong Sub-Region during the 2025 and 2026 dry seasons, with proactive communications to the public, stepping up on-the-ground measures and actions, and enhancing collaboration with relevant stakeholders. In view of the ASMC’s forecast on El Niño conditions developing in June-July 2026 and above-normal temperature for most of the ASEAN region, the Meeting underscored the need for heightened vigilance and stronger regional cooperation to prevent transboundary haze.
- The Meeting agreed to revisit the Chiang Rai 2017 Plan of Action for the northern ASEAN sub-region to 2030 to ensure alignment with the Second Haze-Free Roadmap. The Meeting further agreed for the ASEAN Secretariat to facilitate the discussion through workshops, potentially with the support of partners, to update the Chiang Rai 2017 Plan of Action or explore a new action plan that thoroughly review and reflect the implementation of the Chiang Rai 2017 Plan of Action, as well as aligning it with the post-2025 ASEAN strategies including the ASEAN Haze-Free Roadmap, APMS and AIF. In order to ensure the success of the workshop, the Meeting tasked the ASEAN Secretariat to develop a proposal and circulate it within a month before the workshop. The Meeting also noted Thailand’s offer to host the workshop.
- The Meeting reaffirmed its commitment at the 20th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution (COP-20) on 3 September 2025 in Langkawi, Malaysia to fully and effectively implement the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution (AATHP) and looked forward to the timely deposit of Instruments of Ratification by the ASEAN Member States necessary for the entry into force of the Establishment Agreement of the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Transboundary Haze Pollution Control (ACC THPC) to ensure its full operationalisation in Indonesia.
- The Meeting noted the finalisation of the Implementation Plan of the ASEAN Investment Framework for Haze-Free Sustainable Land Management (AIF) to support the implementation of the Haze-Free Roadmap and the Second ASEAN Peatland Management Strategy (APMS) 2023-2030. The Meeting encouraged new and potential partnerships at national, sub-regional and regional levels to enhance coordinated action with the active engagement of all sectors and stakeholders of society to address the impacts of transboundary haze and achieve a haze-free ASEAN by 2030.
- The Meeting looked forward to the convening of the 21st Meeting of the Committee under the Conference of the Parties to the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution (COM-21) and the 21st Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution (COP-21) tentatively in October 2026 in Da Nang, Viet Nam.
- The 15th MSC Mekong Meeting will be held in Myanmar in Nay Pyi Taw tentatively in February or March 2027.
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