Landscape in the News

Fire Smoke Took an Estimated 3,560 Lives in September

CREA, the Helsinki-based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, estimates that air pollution caused about 5,310 deaths in Indonesia in September 2026, 42 percent more than in August. Fire smoke caused 3,560 of them, about twice the August figure, and accounted for 94 to 99 percent of deaths in four Kalimantan provinces and over 90 percent in Riau, Jambi and West Sumatra. On the worst day of the month 57.8 million people breathed unhealthy to hazardous air, a monthly record. CREA counts only deaths within days of exposure, and links the toll to a 75 percent cut in BNPB’s 2026 budget and the government’s refusal to declare a national disaster.

The Indonesian press release cites Agus Sari, co-founder and CEO of Landscape Indonesia and a member of the expert council of Perhimpunan Filantropi Indonesia, on the weak government preparation behind the smoke: the disaster was predictable and avoidable, and the lack of preparation comes down to a lack of will. NOAA issued its El Niño advisory on June 11, and Landscape set out the risk in Fire on the Horizon the same month. Our Highlighted Publication summarizes the analysis, redraws CREA’s figures, and sets its acute estimate beside the chronic toll and Landscape’s own health cost model.

Utak-Atik Anggaran Bencana · Seperti Apa Kelayakan Kebijakan Anggaran Bencana di APBN

A two-part Tempo examination of how Indonesia pays for disasters in an El Niño year. The government keeps a fixed on-call disaster fund of around Rp 5 trillion in the state budget, which can be topped up on request from BNPB — but its use is tied to a disaster's formal emergency status, so money moves after a crisis is declared rather than before it builds.

The articles draw on the Landscape Advisory analysis of the 2026 super El Niño, Fire on the Horizon, and its system dynamics model ENSOID26, to set the scale of the bill against the size of the fund — the argument being that the indirect costs of the season, through food prices, health, lost productivity and the fiscal response, far exceed what a response-triggered reserve is designed to cover.

Beban Kesehatan Tembus Rp120 Triliun, PFI Serukan Penanganan Sistemik Karhutla di Indonesia

Agus Sari, CEO of The Landscape Group and a member of the Perhimpunan Filantropi Indonesia expert council, is quoted on the BMKG super El Niño warning that went unheeded: an early warning system should be a full mitigation and response protocol from the center down to the village, not an announcement — and the El Niño effect has not yet peaked.

The article draws on the Landscape Advisory fact sheet released 21 August 2026 for the role of peat: of the weekly hotspot trace, about 81,759 hectares fell on peatland, with 1.66 percent of peat burning in a single week against 0.71 percent of mineral soil — roughly 2.3 times the rate, and the source of most of the emissions.

Membuka Kunci Nilai Ekonomi dari Hutan Indonesia

An interview on the gap between Indonesia’s natural asset base and the number of carbon projects that actually reach economic and ecological value. Project development has to pass through technical design, financing, validation, verification, finding buyers, and meeting integrity standards. Agus Sari argues the aim is not to turn carbon into a new commodity but to build an economic ecosystem in which protecting nature carries a competitive economic value — economy, ecology and social justice together. “Kalau kita mau sustainable, tiga-tiganya harus jalan. Dan kalau salah satunya enggak jalan, itu bukan sustainable namanya.”

[LIVE] Siaga Karhutla Indonesia: Api Mengancam Kita | DIALOG PRIME

A live panel discussion on the 2026 fire emergency, with Agus Sari on why the season escalated and what a working early warning protocol would have to cover.

PLN: Don’t put all your watts in one basket

An opinion piece on diversification in PLN’s generation portfolio. Summary to be supplied.