Forest and land fires (karhutla) produce various types of emissions that can have detrimental impacts on humans and the environment.
According to data from the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLHK), karhutla throughout Indonesia during the January-July 2023 period has already produced approximately 9.60 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e).
During this period, West Kalimantan was the province with the largest contributor of carbon emissions from karhutla, namely 3.21 million tons of CO2e.
Riau ranked second, producing 1.09 million tons of CO2e, followed by East Java in third place, contributing 1.06 million tons of CO2e from karhutla.
Although East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) is recorded as the province with the largest karhutla area during this period, the carbon emissions produced by NTT ranked fourth at 517 thousand tons of CO2e.
The following is a complete list of the 10 provinces with the largest CO2 emissions from karhutla in Indonesia from January to July 2023:
1. West Kalimantan: 3,214,481 tons CO2e
2. Riau: 1,095,678 tons CO2e
3. East Java: 1,067,888 tons CO2e
4. NTT: 517,960 tons CO2e
5. South Kalimantan: 513,201 tons CO2e
6. Central Kalimantan: 505,511 tons CO2e
7. West Sumatra: 411,857 tons CO2e
8. North Sumatra: 378,895 tons CO2e
9. Lampung: 297,821 tons CO2e
10. South Sumatra: 265,622 tons CO2e
Meanwhile, the KLHK noted that several provinces in Indonesia did not contribute emissions from karhutla, namely DKI Jakarta, Papua, and Yogyakarta.