Thailand, Myanmar and Laos on Tuesday officially launched a joint plan of action on tackling transboundary haze in strengthening cooperation to reduce regional air pollution.

Under the CLEAR Sky Strategy 2024-2030, the three Southeast Asian countries have agreed to take concrete action, including collaboration on fire control, hotspot reduction, forecasting and monitoring systems, sustainable agricultural management, law enforcement and inter-agency coordination.

Speaking at the launch ceremony, Thai Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa said the joint efforts were born out of necessity and urgency in addressing the rising PM2.5 levels in the region's air, which stem from several sources, including industry, transport and in particular forest fires and agricultural burning.

Maris said the three nations have worked together in developing a fire risk map and capacity building at the bilateral level while undertaking cooperation programs through frameworks such as the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation and the Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy at the sub-regional level.