Minister Wang Mei-hua of Economic Affairs led a delegation to attend the 13th APEC Energy Ministerial Meeting held on August 15 and 16 in Seattle, sharing Taiwan's renewable energy development achievements, net-zero targets, and experience of just energy transition, and joining all attending member economies as well as industrial representatives in recognizing that proactive development of renewable energy and just energy transition are the keys to achieving net-zero emissions.

The annual theme set by the hosting member economy, i.e., the U.S., is "Creating a Resilient and Sustainable Future for All," and the meeting was chaired by Secretary of Energy of the United States, Ms. Jennifer Granholm. Representatives of the public and private sectors shared implementation experiences on "Power Sector Decarbonization," "Accelerating Methane Abatement," and "Supporting a Just Energy Transition," while emphasizing the importance of public-private partnership. Attending industrial representatives, such as Microsoft and Google, all pledged to promote net-zero emissions; one of their strategies was to use renewable energy extensively, while also asking the supply chain to set mid to long-term carbon reduction targets and increase procurement of green energy.

As representatives from some member economies stressed that each member economy has different resource endowment and agenda for development, as a result, member economies did not reach consensus on two of the three aforesaid topics, i.e., "Power Sector Decarbonization" and "Accelerating Methane Abatement." That said, all member economies agreed on the direction of continued promotion of renewable energy and international cooperation. As for the topic of "Supporting a Just Energy Transition," a consensus was successfully reached. Minister Wang shared at the meeting that when Taiwan developed renewable energy, we also valued communication and cooperation with society, such as the establishment of environmental and social inspection mechanism and local workstations for solar PV, facilitating communication between solar PV sites and stakeholders; encouragement of win-win cooperation between developers of offshore wind farms and fishermen to create local employment opportunities. Minister Wang also shared Taiwan's experience in helping motorcycle shops to transition and upgrade as a way of minimizing the impact on traditional motorcycle shops in the process of promoting electric vehicles.

The U.S. also joined ten other economies, including Australia, Canada, Japan, and Taiwan, in endorsing a "Joint Statement on Accelerating Methane Mitigation from the LNG Value Chain" at this year's meeting. Taiwan is not a natural gas producer, and thus, does not face the issue of emissions from the production process; however, as one of the primary LNG importers, endorsing this statement showed how much emphasis we put on carbon emission reduction in the LNG value chain.

At the APEC Energy Ministerial Meeting, the Ministry of Economic Affairs also learned from member economies' experience of promoting net-zero emissions, and that their related strategies and measures were mostly consistent with those of Taiwan. The Ministry will continue to promote renewable energy development and just energy transition, making contribution to sustainable development of the global human society.

Spokesperson for Energy Administration, Ministry of Economic Affairs: Deputy Director General, Chun-Li Lee
Phone: 02-2775-7700
Mobile: 0936-250-838
Email: chunlee@moeaea.gov.tw

Business Contact: Director, Fang-Ling Liao
Phone: 02-2775-7710
Mobile: 0912-089-923
Email: flliao@moeaea.gov.tw