Indonesia forest fires cost $5.2 billion in economic losses: World Bank
smoke covers forest during fires in Kapuas
The total damage andeconomicloss fromforestfiresinIndonesiathis year amounted to at least $5.2billion, equal to 0.5 per centof gross domestic product, theWorldBanksaid in a report on Wednesday.
The estimate was based on its assessment in eight affected provinces from June to October 2019, though analysts at the multinationalbanksaidfireshad continued to rage through to November.
"Theforestand landfires, as well as the resulting haze, led to significant negativeeconomicimpacts, estimated at $157 million in direct damage to assets and $5.0billioninlossesfrom affectedeconomicactivities," theWorldBankwrote in the report.
Over 900,000 people reported respiratory illnesses, 12 national airports halted operations, and hundreds of schools inIndonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore had to temporarily close due to thefires.
Drifting smoke at the height of the dry season in September triggered a diplomatic spat between Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta.
More than 942,000 hectares (2.3 million acres) offorests and lands were burned this year, the biggest since devastatingfiresin 2015 whenIndonesiasaw 2.6 million hectares burned, according to official figures. Officials said the spike was due to El Nino weather patterns lengthening the dry season.
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TheWorldBankalso estimated a 0.09 and 0.05 percentage points reduction inIndonesia'seconomicgrowth in 2019 and 2020, respectively, due to thefires. Its growth forecast forIndonesiais 5 per centfor 2019 and 5.1 per centfor 2020.
The blazes were "manmade and have become a chronic problem annually since 1997" because fire is considered the cheapest method to prepare land for cultivation, thebanksaid.
Because about 44 per centof the areas burned in 2019 was in peatlands, carbon emissions fromIndonesia'sfireswere estimated to be almost double the emissions from thefiresin the Brazilian Amazon this year.
The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecast estimated a total of 720 megatonnes of CO2 emissions came fromIndonesianforestfiresin January-November this year.
Longer-term effects of repeatedfireswere not included in this estimate, theWorldBanksaid. Repeated haze exposure would reduce health and education quality and damage the global image of palm oil - an important commodity forIndonesia.