Since entering into force in 1994, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has served as the foundation for international efforts to tackle global warming and the resultant threats to humanity and the planet. As the Republic of China (ROC) is not a member of the United Nations (UN), it is not a signatory to the treaty and therefore has yet to be formally represented at any of the related meetings or activities. However, ROC Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) Minister Wei Kuo-yen (魏國彥) points out that the nation is keenly aware of the need to enact global measures to address climate change and is ready to make substantial contributions to such initiatives. For these reasons, the minister explains, Taiwan is continuing to seek international support for its bid to participate as an observer in the annual meetings held by the convention’s decision-making body.
The UNFCCC was opened for signature at the UN Conference on Environment and Development, or Earth Summit, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1992. The treaty has since been ratified by all UN member states and forms a global framework of environmental and industrial agreements designed to address climate change. In 1995, the first Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UNFCCC took place in Berlin, Germany, and since that time the UNFCCC’s decision-making body has met on an annual basis in cities around the globe. Significant agreements have been reached at these meetings, including the Kyoto Protocol to the UNFCCC, which was adopted during the third session of the COP in 1997 to set limits on greenhouse gas emissions for industrialized countries. From December 1 to 12 this year, the government of Peru will host the 20th session of the COP in its capital city of Lima, and this meeting will also serve as the 10th session of the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol.
“Taiwan has been engaged in efforts to seek substantial participation in the UNFCCC since representatives from the EPA attended the 1992 Earth Summit,” notes the head of the administration, which will soon be reorganized as the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources by incorporating bureaus from other ministries with responsibilities in such areas as forestry, meteorology and water resources management. The nation’s efforts have taken on a new focus in recent years due to its shift from attempting to acquire UN membership to the pragmatic goal of seeking an official presence in UN specialized agencies and working groups. Wei notes that Taiwan and mainland China have been working to build mutually beneficial ties since 2008, and he hopes that Taiwan’s bid to participate in the COP meetings can be resolved in a rational manner. He would like to see the model of Taiwan’s participation in the World Health Assembly (WHA), the decision-making body of the UN World Health Organization, also applied in the UNFCCC case. After more than a decade of efforts from the public and private sectors, Taiwan gained observer status in the WHA in 2009, and since then its health minister has been invited to attend the annual WHA forum in Geneva, Switzerland. “We know that gaining observer status in the COP sessions cannot be achieved overnight,” Wei says. “Yet with precedents like the WHA case, we have every reason to pursue participation.”
The Role of NGOs
Although Taiwan has yet to formally take part in the COP sessions, the nation has sent a team from the quasi-official Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) to the annual event since it was first held in 1995. The country’s largest research and development organization, which is headquartered in northern Taiwan’s Hsinchu County, is one of the approximately 1,600 nongovernmental organizations (NGO) admitted as observers to the COP meetings. Four other NGOs from Taiwan are likewise recognized by the UNFCCC Secretariat. They are the Environmental Quality Protection Foundation (EQPF), Taiwan Institute for Sustainable Energy (TAISE), Foundation of Taiwan Industry Service (FTIS) and Delta Electronics Foundation (DEF), which was established by Delta Electronics, Inc., one of the world’s leading manufacturers of switching power supplies.
The ITRI delegation, usually headed by an EPA deputy minister, consists of government officials as well as representatives from NGOs and the academic and business sectors. In November 2013, EPA Deputy Minister Yeh Shin-cheng (葉欣誠) led the delegation to the COP 19 meeting in Warsaw, Poland. “Our international visibility was quite high there,” Wei says. As an example of this, Yeh was asked to speak about Taiwan’s climate change adaptation and education programs at a forum titled “Sustainable Adaptation Policies: Local Solutions for Global Problems, Indian and Israeli Experiences,” which was co-organized by nonprofit organization the Jewish National Fund and the National Council for Climate Change, Sustainable Development and Public Leadership, an Indian NGO. The deputy minister’s invitation to participate in this event was in large part due to the fact that the ROC was just the sixth country in the world to introduce an Environmental Education Act, which took effect in 2011. Meanwhile, Yeh’s team also held its own events in Warsaw, including a forum titled “Integration for Innovation Toward Low-Carbon Society” that was co-organized by the ITRI and TAISE.
A lightbox sign shows an advertisement for Taiwan’s bid to participate in the UNFCCC. (Photo courtesy of Environmental Protection Administration)
During the COP 19 sessions, ROC diplomatic allies, including Guatemala, Honduras, Panama and Solomon Islands, voiced their support for the nation’s participation in the meetings as an observer. Meanwhile, the Taiwanese delegation held bilateral meetings with representatives from a number of countries including Australia, Germany, South Africa, South Korea and the United States as well as the European Union (EU). In total, Taiwanese representatives took part in 21 bilateral meetings last year, the highest ever number for a COP delegation. Taiwan’s representatives also gained noteworthy media exposure, as Yeh was interviewed by Climate Change TV, a London-based online channel that covers international climate summits, Brussels-based website EU Reporter and Polish newspapers.
Wei notes, however, that Taiwan’s bid for COP observer status is not simply aimed at expanding the nation’s international presence. “More significantly, our fundamental goal is to become part of the global mechanism to address climate change, which is a problem common to all human beings,” he says. “And our good intentions have already been noted by many nations.” The minister also points out that while the annual COP meetings provide an important stage for bilateral and multilateral exchanges, Taiwan is engaged in significant international environmental projects throughout the year. The nation’s ongoing exchanges and cooperative programs include those with the EU on atmospheric monitoring and carbon market capacity building as well as with Australia in the field of carbon capture and storage. “Many projects, such as those that seek to control emissions of pollutants, transcend national boundaries and require a high degree of international cooperation and mutual understanding,” Wei notes.
Promoting Partnerships
The minister also draws attention to the EPA’s new International Environmental Partnership (IEP) initiative for sharing Taiwan’s experience and technology in environmental protection and facilitating technical exchanges among officials from around the world. The formal launch of the IEP was announced by Wei on April 14 at the Office of the President in Taipei City and witnessed by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Gina McCarthy, administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency. Taiwan and the United States have been engaged in technical cooperation on environmental protection for two decades, and the United States is a founding partner of the IEP. Wei points out that the initiative, in addition to deepening Taiwan-US collaboration on the issue, indicates the shift in Taiwan’s role from an importer to exporter of environmental protection experience and technology.
In diplomatic terms, McCarthy’s presence was significant as it marked the first visit by a US Cabinet-level official to Taiwan in nearly 14 years. During the launch of the IEP, the president pointed out that although Taiwan’s diplomatic situation has prevented it from officially attending the conferences associated with the Kyoto Protocol or UNFCCC, the country is willing to follow international emissions standards. The nation plans to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to their 2000 level by 2025 and to half their 2000 level by 2050. These efforts have seen considerable advances in recent years. According to statistics from Paris-based organization the International Energy Agency, Taiwan’s total volume of CO2 emissions from fuel combustion dropped from 276.2 million metric tons in 2007 to 264.7 million metric tons in 2011. This means that during this period, Taiwan’s per capita CO2 emissions from fuel combustion dropped from 12.08 to 11.31 metric tons, so “the nation’s ranking [in highest per capita CO2 emissions from fuel combustion] fell from 18th to 21st in the world,” the president added.
As Taiwan works to promote international environmental initiatives, local NGOs are playing a key role in efforts to enhance the country’s engagement in global mechanisms. Due to the nation’s unique diplomatic situation, its nongovernmental sector often plays a more significant role than is typical in other countries, according to Hsieh Ying-shih (謝英士), a lawyer who took over as chairman of the EQPF in 2008. Since becoming head of the EQPF, Hsieh has encouraged the organization to place greater focus on its participation in the annual COP meetings. In recent years, the NGO has set up stalls at the events’ exhibition venues to share information about its environmental education programs in Taiwan, and organized side-events on such topics as forestry. “Environmental issues do not respect national boundaries and are unrelated to matters concerning sovereignty,” Hsieh says.
US Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy, left, meets with President Ma Ying-jeou at the Office of the President in Taipei in April. (Photo courtesy of Office of the President)
International cooperation on climate change also occurs at the local level. Twelve cities and counties in Taiwan are members of ICLEI–Local Governments for Sustainability—an association that was founded in 1990 as the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI). Headquartered in Bonn, Germany, the association comprises more than 1,000 city and local governments from 86 countries. In recent years, the ICLEI delegation that participated in the COP meetings has included Taipei City Government officials and representatives from the FTIS. Tommy Tsai (蔡宏達), a senior manager at the FTIS, points out that the ICLEI activities have provided great opportunities to promote international cooperation at the local level. Attending the COP meetings as part of the ICLEI delegation also provided his organization with invaluable experience. “We expect to contribute more to Taiwan’s participation in the UNFCCC summits going forward,” Tsai says, referring to the fact that his group was granted COP observer status last year.
In light of the significant role that NGOs can play in the UNFCCC process, the EPA and Ministry of Foreign Affairs jointly organized the UNFCCC NGO Forum in Taipei in August. This event, which was first held last year, promotes contact among NGOs based in Taiwan and other parts of the world. This year’s discussion focused on the challenges faced by those who are especially vulnerable to climate change, including indigenous peoples, women and youths.
The guest speakers at the forum from home and abroad included scholars and representatives from the DEF, EQPF and UN World Conference on Indigenous Peoples as well as individuals who act as focal or co-focal points for the UNFCCC’s women and gender NGO constituency and youth NGO constituency. The NGOs with observer status in the UNFCCC have formed themselves into constituencies based on their similar interests or perspectives. The people serving as focal points and co-focal points for the constituencies facilitate communication between the UNFCCC Secretariat and observer groups. At this year’s forum in Taipei, the NGO representatives called for greater consideration of people’s socioeconomic status in the decision-making process that would lead to, for example, more gender-sensitive policies to tackle climate change and the disasters caused by it.
With regard to post-disaster reconstruction, EPA Minister Wei points out that Taiwan has considerable expertise in this area due to the August 2009 landfall of Typhoon Morakot, the worst climate-related disaster to hit Taiwan. After operating for five years, the Morakot Post-Disaster Reconstruction Council under the Executive Yuan completed its mission, which primarily involved rebuilding or relocating affected communities, and was dissolved in August. “With our country’s limited size and population, at best we can help reduce global CO2 emissions by just a small percentage,” he says. “Yet we can offer substantial technical assistance to nations trying to reconstruct and reinvigorate disaster-stricken areas.” This experience of fighting the impacts of climate change can be better shared by granting Taiwan direct and stable access to global mechanisms like the UNFCCC, from which the country will also benefit, the minister adds. “It’s for the common good of the international community,” he insists.
Write to Pat Gao at cjkao@mofa.gov.tw