Taiwan Today

The fight against climate change requires concerted action by the global community as Taiwan continues its campaign for participation in the UNFCCC.
 

This past August Taiwan demonstrated its unflagging commitment to combating global warming at home with the launch of its Climate Team Taiwan initiative by the Legislature’s U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Advisory Council in partnership with Taipei City-based International Climate Development Institute (ICDI) and National Taiwan University’s (NTU) Biodiversity Research Center. Taking part in the ceremony, academics, climate experts, legislators and representatives from the Cabinet-level Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) and Central Weather Bureau under the Ministry of Transportation and Communications called for strengthened climate governance and cross-sector cooperation in building a sustainable future.
 

On the international stage, Taiwan continues to seek meaningful participation in the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its annual Conference of the Parties (COP), the world’s largest climate summit bringing together heads of state, activists and specialists to coordinate plans addressing global warming and reach agreements on greenhouse gas emission targets. This year’s 26th edition taking place in Glasgow, U.K., from Oct. 31 to Nov. 12 aims to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 while spotlighting the need to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles, advance renewable energy, build resilient infrastructure, mobilize financial resources, and protect ecosystems.
 

Taiwan’s exclusion from the UNFCCC means the country cannot officially take part in any related activities, mechanisms and meetings. Nonetheless, together with local nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), the EPA sends a delegation comprising public and private sector representatives to the COP host city every year to organize exhibitions and sideline events during the conference. Homegrown NGOs holding UNFCCC observer status include state-backed Industrial Technology Research Institute in northern Taiwan’s Hsinchu County, Taiwan Carbon Capture Storage and Utilization Association in Hsinchu City, Taiwan Research Institute in New Taipei City, as well as Taipei-headquartered Delta Electronics Foundation, Environmental Quality Protection Foundation, Foundation of Taiwan Industry Service and Taiwan Institute for Sustainable Energy.
 

Taiwan’s bid to pursue full participation in the UNFCCC has won widespread support from the country’s diplomatic allies and like-minded partners, who have spoken up for the country at COP meetings and sent letters to the UNFCCC secretariat. According to EPA Minister Chang Tzi-chin (張子敬), the organization’s persistent presence at the COP is helping carve out space for Taiwan to take a more active role in climate talks with high-level officials and delegates from across the globe. “Our ongoing mission is to deepen international exchanges on a constructive, pragmatic and professional basis while showing our determination to tackle global warming and resulting environmental threats,” he said. “We’re happy to share our experience in areas like disaster prevention, ecological management, energy efficiency and innovative applications of relevant technologies.”
 

National Focus

Environmental policies are a top priority for Taiwan. In her National Day address in October, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) reiterated the country’s goal to reach net-zero emissions within the next 30 years. “We need to work with all segments of society to draw up a roadmap that will help us stay on top of relevant developments and assess risks early on so we can build a more flexible and responsive power supply network,” she said. Earlier this year during a forum on environmental sustainability in Taipei, the president announced that Taiwan is embarking on a Race to Zero campaign incorporating energy restructuring and systematic strategies to reduce emissions in the agriculture, manufacturing, residential and transportation sectors.
 

Taiwan is one of the first countries in the world to write long-term emission targets into law, Chang said, adding that the Greenhouse Gas Reduction and Management Act promulgated in 2015 is currently being revised to meet the government’s latest plans. In addition to his position as EPA minister, Chang is a vice convener of the Executive Yuan’s (EY) Office of Energy and Carbon Reduction formed in 2016. According to the office’s Deputy Executive Director Lin Tze-luen (林子倫), who heads ICDI, energy production accounts for more than 80 percent of carbon emissions in Taiwan. Accordingly, the government intends to boost power generation from renewables to 20 percent by 2025. To reach this goal, the country’s solar power capacity has increased from 931 megawatts in 2016 to more than 5.7 gigawatts and is set to reach 20 GW in four years.
 

Capitalizing on the substantial wind resources in the Taiwan Strait, the wind power sector is also swiftly expanding via cooperation with international firms. The country’s first offshore wind farm featuring 22 turbines came online in 2019 off the northern county of Miaoli, followed by state-run utility provider Taiwan Power Co.’s 21-turbine project, which saw its initial grid in waters off the central county of Changhua completed in August. These results are part of ongoing offshore wind power development efforts to reach an installed capacity of 5.7 GW by 2025. Over the subsequent decade, capacity is expected to rise by at least 1 GW per year, with an annual generation of 59 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity in 2035, according to the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
 

At the same time, the country is exploring ways to tap its biogas, geothermal resources and marine currents to help power a sustainable future, Lin said. Current outcomes are promising, as Taiwan’s carbon emissions have been decreasing from their peak in the late 2000s, he added. Statistics released by the EPA reveal a trend of economic growth decoupling from greenhouse gas emissions. From 2005 to 2019, the country’s gross domestic product soared 64 percent while carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP dropped 40 percent.
 

EY working groups on business and energy efficiency, carbon-negative techniques, decarbonized energy systems, and green transportation and vehicle electrification have additionally been operating on the interministerial level to set phased goals for 2030, 2040 and 2050, devising corresponding plans to support the net-zero campaign. “Social dialogue is taking the needs of future generations into consideration, helping bolster the government’s green initiatives,” said Lin, who is also an associate professor specializing in energy and climate-related policymaking at NTU’s Department of Political Science.
 

Municipal Contributions

To meet the country’s environmental pledges, local authorities are likewise playing a key role by implementing low-carbon initiatives. One shining example is the northern metropolis of Taoyuan, which saw a green ordinance take effect in 2017. Among the results, a program subsidizing replacement of gasoline-powered motorcycles has led to the purchase of around 76,000 electric models, said Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦), adding that the increasing number of charging and battery-swapping stations has also helped boost uptake. “The principle is to provide an economic stimulus for people to adopt sustainable technology such as electric vehicles while cultivating a friendlier environment for users,” he said.
 

Taoyuan is placing great emphasis on renewable energy development, which the central government has named one of six core strategic industries targeted for accelerated growth. The metropolis’s continually expanding solar sector currently accounts for 63 percent of Taoyuan’s total 626 MW renewable power capacity that is expected to grow to 1.2 GW by 2030, according to the city’s latest Voluntary Local Review released in September 2020. A waste incinerator in Guanyin District is also set to become the country’s largest biomass energy center once it goes online, when it will generate 220 million kilowatt-hours per year with a 30.58 MW installed capacity.
 

Home to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, the city additionally serves as the country’s largest air freight hub and business distribution center. On this front, Taoyuan is doing its part to help tackle climate change via involvement in the Ecologistics Community under Local Governments for Sustainability, a UNFCCC-accredited organization with a global network of regional governments from over 125 countries, including 11 member cities and counties in Taiwan. “Through public-private partnership bringing together main actors in the government and business sectors, we seek to develop and adopt intelligent low-carbon distribution approaches in line with urban planning schemes,” Cheng said. Five model ecologistic districts, including one in the airport neighborhood, have been established to promote the use of electric vehicles, green building designs, LED streetlights, renewable energy facilities and smart warehouse management systems, among other things, he added.
 

Earlier this year, Taoyuan City Government established an interagency task force for sustainable development headed by the mayor. Its seven working groups respectively focus on the circular economy, climate change adaptation and mitigation, education, environmental resilience, green transportation, public health and public security, with the goal of making concrete progress toward realizing the SDGs. Similar efforts are taking place at all government levels across the country. For the EPA’s Chang, substantial participation in global mechanisms like UNFCCC is essential to achieving the SDGs. “As a responsible member of the international community, we’re willing and able to share our knowledge and expertise with the world to help build a better, greener future for all.”


Write to Pat Gao at cjkao@mofa.gov.tw