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Green development conference threatened by environmentalists

A national conference on sustainable development is set to open today in Taipei, but environmentalists are threatening to stage a rally outside the venue to protest against several government projects that they claim will take a heavy toll on the environment.

In a news conference held yesterday by the conference's organizer, the National Council for Sustainable Development, Minister without Portfolio Lin Si-yao (林錫耀) -- who doubles as the chief executor of the council -- said the two-day conference will focus on four themes: Major transportation projects, development of water resources, reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and industrial restructuring.

He said the Cabinet would consult with environmental groups to hear their opinions on those four themes, adding that he believed these groups would be willing to listen and exchange views with officials during the conference.

The conclusions reached at the conference will be submitted to the National Council for Sustainable Development to serve as guidelines for revising the country's sustainable development action program, the minister said.

Issues that cannot be solved at the conference through consensus will be discussed further in public hearings or public hearings to be organized afterward, Lin said.

However, several environmental groups, including the Taiwan Ecosystem Association, have threatened to organize a rally today to protest against the government's insistence on pushing through several economic projects, which they claimed would seriously damage the environment.
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