The International Symposium on SDGs: Climate Change Action took place Sept. 20 in New York as part of government efforts spotlighting the ways Taiwan Can Help realize the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals and Agenda 2030.
 
Organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Cabinet-level Environmental Protection Administration, state-backed Industrial Technology Research Institute, National Tsing Hua University and U.S. public policy organization Prometheus Institute, the one-day event involved more than 100 officials, academics, experts and nongovernmental organization representatives from Taiwan and U.N. member states.
 
EPA Deputy Minister Tsai Hung-teh said during a keynote address that the government’s core climate policies are in line with the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals. He cited as examples the country’s version of SDGs and Voluntary National Review on UN SDG implementation released in 2018 and 2017, respectively.
 
According to Tsai, Taiwan has made great progress when it comes to promoting civil empowerment, equality, inclusiveness, poverty eradication and sustainable and resilient society.
 
Achievements in this regard, Tsai said, include development of digital and smart agriculture; promotion of reduced usage of plastic products; universal health care boasting a 99.7 percent coverage rate; Asia-leading gender equality development; and front-runner position in waste recycling and reduction.
 
On the global front, Taiwan is sparing no effort in working with like-minded partners to advance sustainable development, Tsai said. In particular, the International Environmental Partnership undertaken with the U.S. serves as a successful platform for cooperation and exchanges with 45 countries spanning 87 projects since its launch in 2014, he added.
 
The symposium also featured a panel discussion in which EPA representatives detailed Taiwan’s experiences in decoupling economic growth from carbon emissions. The government’s overarching goal is to slash the country’s greenhouse gas emissions to under 50 percent of the 2005 level by 2050, the administration said. (SFC-E)
 
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