Global attention to climate change and sustainability are driving dramatic and new challenges for ASEAN’s agroforestry sector. Demands by governments and consumers are pressuring producers as well as major purchasers and financial institutions involved in the supply chains of key products in this sector. While undertaking sustainable practices comes with costs, the new paradigms for the sector in environmental protection also offer opportunities for growth for those who adjust and innovate.

For years, the fires and haze pollution signalled the deforestation and environmental harms associated with the agroforestry sector in the region. Yet while concerns remain, there have been fewer fires and less haze in the ASEAN region since 2015, despite increasingly dry climatic conditions across the world. This record indicates the greater attention and better management given to prevent environmental harms. Governments and companies have also taken additional steps to increase accountability and track progress by setting various sustainability targets, such as ASEAN’s goal of a haze-free region by 2020.

However, the work does not stop here. As we take stock of the efforts undertaken by various stakeholders and their initial successes, questions arise whether ASEAN’s agroforestry and resource sectors can go further to address broader and more ambitious goals in climate change and sustainability, and how greater responsibilities and innovative responses can be fostered across supply chains.

To explore these questions, the SIIA hosted the 6th Singapore Dialogue on Sustainable World Resources (SDSWR) on 2 May 2019 at the Fullerton Hotel Singapore. More than 300 representatives from governments, the private sector, NGOs, academia, and the media participated in the full-day conference.

The report captures the key messages of the 6th SDSWR.