This October, New Taipei City in northern Taiwan became the first municipality in Asia to be recognized for its full compliance with the directives of the Compact of Mayors, the world’s largest coalition of city leaders committed to enhancing resilience to climate change, lowering greenhouse gas emissions and tracking their progress transparently. “Cities around the world are already acting—many in very significant ways—to reduce emissions and adapt to climate change, but their progress too often goes unrecognized and is not measured or reported consistently,” according to a statement from the Compact of Mayors. “Sharing the impact of these current efforts and catalyzing new action is imperative, in part because a new climate change agreement will soon be negotiated in Paris.”
The 21st Conference of the Parties to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is being held in the French capital from Nov. 30 to Dec. 11, with the aim of reaching a global agreement on greenhouse gas reduction targets. The Republic of China is not a member of the U.N. and therefore not a signatory to the UNFCCC. However, as the nation continues to seek observer status in the U.N. climate body in order to make meaningful contributions to international efforts to tackle climate change, cities and counties across Taiwan are already making great strides toward creating a low-carbon society.
Changkeng Elementary School in New Taipei constructed a green roof with the help of a subsidy from the city government. (Photo courtesy of Taipei City Government)
Launched at the U.N.’s Climate Summit 2014, the Compact of Mayors was inaugurated under the leadership of three international local government organizations—C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability, and the United Cities and Local Governments—with support from U.N.-Habitat, the global body’s lead agency on urban issues. To participate in the coalition, a city needs to determine its current output of greenhouse gases and create reduction targets, as well as establish a measurement system and an action plan, within three years of registering with the group.
“We decided to participate in the Compact of Mayors to emphasize our city’s commitment to combat climate change as well as to show our ability to act on an ambitious global climate agenda,” says Chu I-chun (朱益君), chief of the Low-Carbon Community Development Center (LCCDC) under the New Taipei City Government’s Environmental Protection Department. “And we’re proud to be recognized as the first city in Asia to achieve full compliance.” The LCCDC, established in 2007, was the first local government unit in Taiwan dedicated to promoting long-term reductions in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.
Taiwan’s first plan for developing and accrediting low-carbon and sustainable communities was outlined in a resolution adopted at the annual National Energy Conference in 2009. Under the scheme, the Cabinet-level Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) is tasked with identifying small communities nationwide that have developed innovative carbon reduction initiatives. The EPA was also charged with selecting low-carbon demonstration cities and counties. The agency chose New Taipei City, together with Yilan County, Taichung City and Tainan City in northeastern, central and southern Taiwan, respectively, as well as the outlying counties of Penghu and Kinmen, for inclusion in this aspect of the scheme.
Hsu Jen-tse (許仁澤), a senior technical specialist at the EPA’s Office of Program Integration, says the administration’s Low-Carbon Homeland Program seeks to promote energy conservation, low-carbon lifestyles, renewable energy, resource recycling, sustainable architecture and transportation, as well as urban greening, by suggesting action plans, providing financial and technical assistance, and formulating evaluation and certification systems.
Residents of Houxi Borough in New Taipei City’s Yonghe District drop off their household waste for recycling at a community collection station. (Photo by Huang Chung-hsin)
These initiatives have obtained strong support from the central government and local authorities. “Local-level entities have a key role in fighting climate change because they’ve jurisdiction over many areas like buildings, transportation and waste management that greatly affect energy consumption and CO2 emissions,” Hsu explains. “They are also large energy users themselves and can set an example by implementing their own sustainable measures and adopting cleaner forms of energy.”
Over the years, the New Taipei City Government has been actively promoting green buildings, energy and transportation, as well as recycling, through education programs, incentives and publicity campaigns. Municipal agencies also offer policy and technical guidance. For example, the LCCDC has organized a team of experts in the fields of air-conditioning, electricity and lighting to provide energy-saving diagnostic and consulting services to businesses, communities and schools at no cost.
Moreover, the center encourages boroughs to set up recycling stations and to use the money earned from their efforts for community improvement and social welfare projects. So far, more than 300 boroughs have set up such depots in response to the city government’s campaign. “Our various schemes are designed to involve commercial establishments, private organizations and schools, or say, community members in general, and to inform them of the easy steps that can be taken to reduce their carbon footprints,” Chu says.
As for transportation infrastructure, the city government continues to establish dedicated bike lanes, electric vehicle (EV) charging stations and YouBike bicycle rental stations, and offers subsidies for purchases of low-emission buses and electric cars and motorcycles. To date, a 422-kilometer bikeway network, more than 500 EV charging stations and some 200 YouBike stations with about 5,300 bikes have been completed across the city.
To date, more than 200 YouBike bicycle rental stations, offering roughly 5,300 bikes, have been established across New Taipei City. (Photo by Huang Chung-hsin)
Furthermore, municipal authorities have teamed up with energy service companies (ESCO) on the installation of photovoltaic (PV) panels on the roofs of public properties as well as on the conversion of conventional traffic signals and streetlights to energy-efficient light-emitting diodes (LED). The ESCO scheme, Chu explains, is a “budget neutral” method of financing the purchase, installation and maintenance of energy-efficient technologies in that payment for the services is based—either wholly or in part—on the achievement of energy efficiency improvements and on adherence to performance criteria.
The actions taken within New Taipei have led to a decrease in the city’s greenhouse gas emissions from 4.69 metric tons per capita in 2010 to 4.58 metric tons in 2013. The local government aims to further reduce emissions to 2008 levels by 2016, and to 20 percent lower than they were in 2006 by 2026. “We are upbeat about achieving our short and long-term reduction goals,” Chu says. “Our optimism comes from the implementation of mitigation strategies throughout all possible areas within our jurisdiction and growing public awareness and participation in these energy efficiency initiatives.”
Likewise, the Tainan City Government has made great endeavors to cut carbon emissions over the past years. Rose Chu (朱玫瑰) is the executive secretary of the city government’s Low-Carbon-City Project Office, which is tasked with implementing the southern municipality’s emissions reduction plans. Chu says the local government had already formulated its low-carbon goals before it was chosen as one of the demonstration cities in 2011.
The Tainan City Government promulgated a low-carbon ordinance in December 2012. The legislation, the executive secretary notes, provides the legal and institutional framework for low-carbon growth and a reduction of carbon emissions. A committee comprised of 31 academia, government, industry and nongovernmental representatives was established to formulate low-carbon urban development strategies and to monitor the progress of related programs.
To realize the city’s vision of sustainability, Rose Chu says a total of 10 projects that address multiple aspects of municipal operations with regards to buildings, energy, environment, recycling, tourism and transportation have been implemented. These schemes have been designed to take local characteristics into consideration, she adds.
Solar panels have been installed on the rooftop of a public retail market in Tainan. Local authorities offer subsidies and lease public space to encourage the development of renewable energy sources. (Photo courtesy of Tainan City Government)
Tainan, for instance, enjoys abundant sunshine and is home to some 50 PV enterprises. The city government kicked off a project in 2011 to encourage the placement of solar panels on the rooftops of agricultural facilities, factories, and government and residential buildings. Through the program, Tainan authorities offer subsidies to companies for the purchase and installation of PV equipment. Additionally, private firms are allowed to lease the rooftops of government buildings and install solar panels. The energy that is generated is sold to the state-run Taiwan Power Co. More than 2,500 applications for the program had been approved as of August 2015, with the total capacity estimated to reach over 144 megawatts.
Moreover, the Tainan City Government is working to transform a rezoning area in Annan District into a low-carbon demonstration community by 2019. Rose Chu explains that the overall planning of the Jiufenzi rezoning area, spanning 101 hectares, emphasizes ecological diversity, energy efficiency, green construction, landscape greening, the use of renewable energy and effective waste management. Once completed, it will become Taiwan’s first large-scale low-carbon community.
As a result of the aforementioned initiatives, the city eliminated a total of 2.8 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions between 2012 and 2014. This is equivalent to a reduction of 1.4 kilograms of CO2 per capita each day. These statistics have been certified by the British Standards Institution (Taiwan Branch). Thanks to this achievement, the city reached its 2014 target of a 13 percent reduction in comparison to the business-as-usual (BAU) scenario. It now aims to lower its emissions to 26 percent below BAU by 2020.
With close collaboration between the central and local governments, Taiwan is making steady progress in reducing its carbon footprint, while providing a better quality of life to its citizens. “The impact of local-level programs is potentially immense. It’s encouraging to see innovative urban initiatives addressing climate risk underway,” the EPA’s Hsu says. “By setting ambitious voluntary reduction targets and meeting strict reporting standards as established by the Compact of Mayors or other international organizations, cities in Taiwan are demonstrating their commitment to being part of the global climate solution.”
Write to Kelly Her at kher@mofa.gov.tw