Ecowatch: Addressing the super pollutants problem

The massive peatland fire in Pengerang, Johor, early in 2026. When peatlands burn, they release large quantities of a super pollutant, black carbon. That is what’s in store for Malaysians if the forecasted ‘super’ El Nino weather event happens and haze caused by wildfires and peatland fires smothers the country. — Photo from the Johor Fire and Rescue Department

IN June 2026, in a wood-panelled room in London, I sat in a gathering hosted by the British government, one graced by King Charles, dedicated to one of the most consequential environmental issues of our time.

Around me were scientists, policymakers, and advocates from across the world. Among them was Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah – the mother of Ella, a nine-year-old girl who died in 2013 after years of severe asthma attacks. In 2020, a landmark inquest ruled that air pollution had contributed to Ella’s death, making her the first person in the United Kingdom, and possibly the world, to have air pollution officially recorded as a cause of death.