The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) will present a comprehensive plan next month to push for the establishment of a World Environment Organization (WEO), EPA Minister Winston Dang (
Dang, responding to a proposal put forth by President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) in May calling for the formation of WEO, said the EPA met with environmentalists and academics last month to discuss the issue and held seminars this month to facilitate further discussions.
Dang also disclosed the EPA's policy objectives over the next five years during a report at the Presidential Office on the nation's efforts to protect the environment. These include reducing the percentage of days with poor air quality to below 1.5 percent by 2011 and improving the water quality of five urban rivers in Taipei County, Keelung City, Tainan County, Kaohsiung County and Pingtung County, Dang said.
On environmental diplomacy, Dang said an air monitoring station that Taiwan is helping to set up in Guatemala is expected to be completed next year.
In related news, Lin Yu-Kai (
"Despite the detour, the EPA is determined in its anti-global warming efforts," he said. "In the meantime, the EPA will lay the groundwork, such as evaluating and registering the greenhouse gas emissions of all businesses around the country."
The EPA will form a greenhouse gas emission reduction office to centralize the anti-global warming task force, so that all inter-ministry dealings can go through one consolidated body, he said.
Yangmingshan National Park authorities yesterday urged visitors to respect public spaces and obey the law after a couple was caught on a camera livestream having sex at the park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) earlier in the day. The Shilin Police Precinct in Taipei said it has identified a suspect and his vehicle registration number, and would summon him for questioning. The case would be handled in accordance with public indecency charges, it added. The couple entered the park at about 11pm on Thursday and began fooling around by 1am yesterday, the police said, adding that the two were unaware of the park’s all-day live
Fast food chain McDonald's is to raise prices by up to NT$5 on some products at its restaurants across Taiwan, starting on Wednesday next week, the company announced today. The prices of all extra value meals and sharing boxes are to increase by NT$5, while breakfast combos and creamy corn soup would go up by NT$3, the company said in a statement. The price of the main items of those meals, if ordered individually, would remain the same. Meanwhile, the price of a medium-sized lemon iced tea and hot cappuccino would rise by NT$3, extra dipping sauces for chicken nuggets would go up
Yangmingshan National Park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) nature area has gone viral after a park livestream camera observed a couple in the throes of intimate congress, which was broadcast live on YouTube, drawing large late-night crowds and sparking a backlash over noise, bright lights and disruption to wildlife habitat. The area’s livestream footage appeared to show a couple engaging in sexual activity on a picnic table in the park on Friday last week, with the uncensored footage streamed publicly online. The footage quickly spread across social media, prompting a tide of visitors to travel to the site to “check in” and recreate the
Minister of Digital Affairs Lin Yi-ching (林宜敬) yesterday cited regulatory issues and national security concerns as an expert said that Taiwan is among the few Asian regions without Starlink. Lin made the remarks on Facebook after funP Innovation Group chief executive officer Nathan Chiu (邱繼弘) on Friday said Taiwan and four other countries in Asia — China, North Korea, Afghanistan and Syria — have no access to Starlink. Starlink has become available in 166 countries worldwide, including Ukraine, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, in the six years since it became commercial, he said. While China and North Korea block Starlink, Syria is not
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