Human rights

ASEAN foreign ministers are expected to discuss the transboundary haze at an upcoming meeting. The episode highlights longstanding regional tensions over the annual haze, which has strained diplomatic relations in previous severe seasons such as 2015.

BCG says that policymakers and businesses alike will need strategies that address both the scale of the rural middle class and the constraints facing households that have slipped downward if the gains of recovery are to become more widely shared.

Earlier assessments have similarly stressed that without accelerated action, high levels of hunger could persist for generations in the most affected regions.