A child struggling to breathe should matter more than a company’s sustainability score.
That should be obvious. Yet every return of regional haze forces an uncomfortable question: are increasingly elaborate environmental, social and governance reporting requirements making the world better, or merely making corporate responsibility look better on paper?
We produce disclosures, establish committees and celebrate compliance. Meanwhile, communities need something simpler: air they can breathe without fearing what it will do to their children.
For Malaysia, the climate and haze crisis must be judged against that basic expectation. A polished sustainability report is not evidence that the people exposed to environmental harm are being protected.
