Officials and delegates attending this year’s UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) NGO Forum in Taipei yesterday expounded their views on non-governmental organizations’ (NGO) roles in countering climate change and commented on Taiwan’s position on the issue.
Forum participants also touched on the topic of including women, Aborigines and the younger generation in the campaign and policymaking process regarding climate change and greenhouse gas reductions.
Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) Deputy Minister Yeh Shin-cheng (葉欣誠), citing the Fifth Assessment Report issued by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, said that with current worldwide emission levels, the international community is far behind the goal it set for 2020, which aims to cap temperature rise at between 1.5?C and 2?C.
Yeh highlighted the importance of international cooperation in resolving the crisis of climate change and called on members of the international community to form a consensuses on their energy and economic policies, while also setting development goals.
American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Deputy Director Brent Christensen said that Taiwan and the US have been working together to address environmental issues over the past 20 years. He also congratulated the two countries on the International Environmental Partnership — an accord struck between the two countries in April.
Nauruan Ambassador to Taiwan Ludwig Keke underlined the significance of NGOs in the campaign to counter climate change, saying that they play a crucial role in the post-Kyoto Protocol era, particularly in aspects such as active mobilization and winning public support, which he said would pressurize governments around the world to frame laws and regulations to address issues related to climate change.
EU Representative to Taiwan Frederic Laplanche said that despite the efforts and contributions Taiwan has made to combat climate change, its lawmakers have been blocking the greenhouse gas reduction draft bill.
If Taiwan hopes to become a member of the UNFCCC, it needs to demonstrate more commitment to battling climate change and emissions, he said.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai