https://www.iss.nl/en/news/dealing-climate-induced-haze-governance-south...
https://www.iss.nl/en/media/2026-05-inaugural-lecture-helena-varkkey19-m...
https://umexpert.um.edu.my/helenav.html
During the dry season, the absence of water increases the risk of fire in the peatlands of Southeast Asia. These fires produce a thick smoke known as 'haze,' which can only be extinguished by massive amounts of water from above – rain.
Varkkey argues that without rain, the haze drifts across borders, chasing away blue skies and replacing them with toxic air pollution.
BIOGRAPHY
Dr Helena Varkkey is an Associate Professor of Political Ecology at the Department of International and Strategic Studies, Universiti Malaya. Her areas of expertise include transboundary haze governance in Southeast Asia and global palm oil politics. Her monograph on “The Haze Problem in Southeast Asia: Palm Oil and Politics” was published by Routledge in 2016. Her latest book is a collection of essays on the politics of haze and the environment in Southeast Asia called “The Forests for the Palms” published by ISEAS Singapore in 2021. Dr Helena has almost two decades of experience in qualitative research, including conducting fieldwork, interviews, and focus groups among various government and non-government stakeholders, and has built up extensive research networks in countries across ASEAN. She has edited and produced reports for the Academy of Sciences Malaysia, UNICEF, and the ASEAN Secretariat.
