Taiwan is seeking a bigger role in the UNFCCC as part of efforts to join the international community in combating climate change.
Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) Minister Lee Ying-yuan (李應元) unveiled Taiwan’s first Voluntary National Review on implementation of the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at a conference Sept. 15 in NewYork. This landmark development, which garnered column inches at home and abroad, demonstrated once again to the world that Taiwan is ready and willing to make a bigger contribution to supporting the strategies of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Produced by the EPA, the report details steps taken by the government in reaching the 17 goals of the U.N. 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, as well as Taiwan’s enforcement mechanisms, implementation achievements and related international collaborative experiences. Clear-cut examples cited in the document include the country’s leadership in implementing SDGs across core areas like access to safely managed sanitation services, female political participation, poverty prevention and the provision of universal education and health care.
Promoting Partnerships
As part of Taiwan’s SDGs efforts, the government is working to promote global partnerships and assist other countries in areas like agriculture, education, environmental protection, information and communication technology, and public health. This is being accomplished through such international cooperation initiatives as the agreement on environmental protection technical cooperation between the EPA and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Renewed Sept. 19 in Washington at a ceremony attended by Lee, the six-year pact enables the two sides to share experiences and knowledge, as well as design and implement major projects aimed at making communities and ecosystems diverse, economically productive and sustainable. A key component involves the International Environmental Partnership, a network of international experts striving to strengthen capacity for addressing environmental challenges. Since its inking in 2014, Taiwan and the U.S. have teamed up with more than 30 countries and territories on an array of research and technical projects.
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During Lee’s U.S. trip, he met with Hilda Heine, president of the Marshall Islands, a diplomatic ally of the Republic of China (Taiwan). The minister came away from the encounter suitably impressed by the leader of the Western Pacific nation’s deep understanding of climate change and the impact upon her homeland. “This paradise is facing the threat of rising sea levels caused by industrial development in distant parts of the world,” he said.
“Extreme weather conditions are now an issue of life and death knowing no boundaries. As a major trading economy and manufacturer, Taiwan can play a bigger part in mitigating the expected impact of global warming and more effectively fulfilling its obligations as a responsible member of the international community.”
Firm Commitment
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) pledged last May in her inauguration address to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in accordance with the Paris Agreement, which was adopted in December 2015 at the 21st session of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UNFCCC in the French capital. Entering into force November 2016, the agreement’s primary aim is to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by capping a global temperature rise this century below 2 C above preindustrial levels and pursuing efforts limiting the temperature increase to 1.5 C. It also seeks to strengthen the ability of countries and territories to deal with the impact of climate change.
This month, COP23 is taking place in the German city of Bonn. The Southwestern Pacific nation of Fiji holds the presidency of the conference and is expected to keep the issue of coordinated, decisive and immediate action by the international community in addressing the underlying causes of climate change high on the agenda. “This benefits Taiwan,” Lee said, adding that like Fiji and the Marshall Islands, the country is also dealing with the effects of extreme weather. “We’ll continue cooperating with our diplomatic allies in the region on energy and environment-related issues.”
But there is only so much Taiwan can accomplish given it is not a party to the UNFCCC, which took effect in 1994 and serves as the international community’s main vehicle for stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations and acting in the interests of human safety. Shut out of official convention activities, the country is restricted to participation through local nongovernmental organizations (NGO) granted observer status by the UNFCCC in events and networking meets held on the sidelines.
“It’s a great pity Taiwan is excluded from the UNFCCC,” Lee said. “There’s no reason for a developed economy like Taiwan to be left out of the global network.”
Meeting Obligations
Minimal participation of high-ranking government officials from Taiwan has limited the contributions the country can make and is considered by many as a great loss to the international community. Still, Taiwan is willing to follow global standards in combating climate change as demonstrated by the wide-ranging measures designed to lower emissions drafted by the National Council for Sustainable Development—an interministerial organization headed by Premier Lai Ching-te (賴清德) and staffed by EPA employees.
In September 2015, Taiwan voluntarily published its Intended Nationally Determined Contributions as required by the UNFCCC, committing to reducing carbon emissions to 20 percent below 2005 levels by 2030 and 50 percent below 2005 levels by 2050. These goals are specified in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction and Management Act, which was promulgated in July 2015.
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“Taiwan is one of the first countries in the world to write emission reducing targets into a law,” Lee said, citing this accomplishment as another example of the country’s commitment to overcoming the challenge presented by climate change. “It’s hoped that Taiwan and the parties to the UNFCCC can work together to find an acceptable model for the country’s meaningful participation in the convention.”
Undeterred, the EPA is sparing no effort in helping organize Taiwan’s NGO delegation for COP23. The nine members include Taipei City-based Foundation of Taiwan Industry Service and Taiwan Institute for Sustainable Energy, as well as the country’s largest R&D outfit Industrial Technology Research Institute headquartered in northern Taiwan’s Hsinchu County. This number will rise to 10 if Mom Loves Taiwan Association (MLTA), also located in the nation’s capital, is granted observer status by the UNFCCC.
Established in 2013 with the support of local women’s enterprises, MLTA comprises environmentally conscientious females from all walks of life. Prior to COP23, the association’s members took part in NGO events at COP22 and COP21 in Marrakech, Morocco, and Paris, respectively. This was made possible through Research and Independent NGO Constituency, one of nine groups representing around 2,000 NGOs afforded observer status by the UNFCCC.
Greater Coordination
MLTA Secretary-General Yang Shun-mei (楊順美) believes there must be a more cohesive approach to expanding Taiwan’s presence in the convention. “On the global stage, the central government’s efforts should be joined by those from local governments and the NGO sector,” she said. This suggestion is welcomed by Tsai Lin-yi (蔡玲儀), assistant commissioner of Taipei City Government’s Department of Environmental Protection. “Taiwan’s municipalities can certainly play a bigger role in enhancing the country’s engagement on the global stage,” she said.
According to Tsai, the local government regularly sends representations to annual climate summits and is a member of Germany-headquartered Local Governments for Sustainability and Spain-based United Cities and Local Governments. Other steps include drafting earlier this year the Taipei Livable and Sustainable City Self-government Ordinances in line with the Greenhouse Gas Reduction and Management Act.
Contributions from the private sector in the form of green technologies developed by local enterprises and individuals are also helping underscore the merit of Taiwan’s bid for a bigger voice in the UNFCCC.
Among the eye-catching examples at recent COPs, Tsai nominated the green building projects of Taipei-based Delta Electronics Inc., one of the world’s leaders in power and thermal management solutions, as well as the electric scooters of Taoyuan City-headquartered Gogoro Inc. in northern Taiwan and permeable pavement by Taiwan inventor Chen Jui-wen (陳瑞文).
For Hsu Kuang-jung (徐光蓉), head of the MLTA and a professor in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at National Taiwan University in Taipei, the government’s UNFCCC-related undertakings must be about more than expanding Taiwan’s international space. “The point is what we can do and how we can play an indispensable role for global climate initiatives,” she said.
Local participants in annual climate summits should work harder to collect information about other nations’ attitudes and positions so as to establish a possible pattern of international collaboration Taiwan can adopt if it is allowed to participate on a larger scale in the UNFCCC, according to Hsu. “We cannot waste any time in fully preparing to take a more active part in global pursuits for a sustainable future.”
