Indonesia wildfire emissions hit 19.7 million tonnes in a week as peatland drainage fuels crisis

Indonesia is in its worst wildfire season in over a decade, with the EU's Copernicus service estimating 19.7 million tonnes of emissions in one September week, more than a third of the global total. The fires are concentrated in carbon-rich peatlands that have been drained for commercial plantations, leaving them dry and easy to ignite. The article explains how regulatory frameworks have not stopped the damage. Environmental groups are pushing President Prabowo Subianto for stricter corporate accountability. For anyone tracking carbon markets or land use emissions, this is a concrete example of how a single country's land management decisions can shift global emission numbers in a matter of days.