The media campaign promoting the country’s bid for meaningful participation in the UNFCCC raised international awareness of the many ways Taiwan can help tackle climate change, according to the MOFA Dec. 24. (MOFA)

Public and private sector efforts to promote the country’s bid for meaningful participation in the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change shined a global spotlight on the many ways Taiwan can help advance sustainable development, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Dec. 24.
 
Tsai Hung-teh, acting minister of the Cabinet-level Environmental Protection Administration, led a delegation of about 60 officials and experts to attend various sidelines activities at the 24th Conference of the Parties to the convention staged Dec. 2-14 in Katowice, Poland.
 
These included 38 bilateral meetings with representatives from 14 diplomatic allies and 10 like-minded countries, such as Germany, Japan, the U.K. and the U.S., the MOFA said. The delegation was also invited to take part in five seminars to outline the nation’s achievements in related fields, the ministry added.
 
Taiwan nongovernmental organizations—including several with UNFCCC observer status such as state-backed Industrial Technology Research Institute based in the northern county of Hsinchu—also traveled to COP24 to attend events and hold discussions with counterparts. In addition, local NGOs arranged five sideline forums in collaboration with allies Belize, the Marshall Islands, St. Kitts and Nevis, and the Solomon Islands.
 
The country’s UNFCCC bid received strong backing from the global community, with 15 allies sending letters to the U.N. specialized agency’s executive secretary calling for Taiwan’s participation and nine voicing support during the annual conference.
 
Several news articles were also released during COP24 highlighting Taiwan’s efforts to advance climate solutions and support sustainable development, the MOFA said.
 
Two examples in this regard are a report published Dec. 11 in Sueddeutsche Zeitung, one of Germany’s largest daily newspapers, praising Taiwan as a role model in enacting legislation to tackle climate change, and an interview with Tsai by the Polish Press Agency the day before in which he detailed the government’s roadmap for lowering carbon emissions.
 
The MOFA said the advertising campaign Combating Climate Change: Taiwan Can Help on Katowice’s tram network during COP24 also captured widespread media attention. This raised awareness of the nation’s commitment to addressing the global challenge and seeking professional, pragmatic and constructive participation in the UNFCCC, the ministry added. (SFC-E)