Taiwan plans to continue its efforts to stem climate change despite the US’ withdrawal from the Paris accord, a spokesman from the Presidential Office said on Friday.
US President Donald Trump on Thursday announced that the US would withdraw from the accord.
Although Taiwan is not a signatory to international agreements on climate change, the government and private groups have conscientiously participated in UN Framework Convention on Climate Change activities, Presidential Office spokesman Alex Huang (黃重諺) said.
Taiwan has also worked hard to achieve international targets on carbon emission reduction, he said.
“Taiwan’s efforts would not change as a result of the US’ withdrawal [from the Paris Accord],” he said.
As a member of the international community, the government’s policies embrace the principle of sustainable development, he said.
The government’s support for the climate change deal would not change, Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) Minister Lee Ying-yuan (李應元) said, adding that world leaders are aiming to draw attention to the scientific fact of climate change.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has vowed to combat global warming and ensure that the nation does its part to safeguard the planet, he said.
“Taiwan would not be absent from [international efforts] and has no plans to change in this regard,” he said.
Government agencies are preparing nearly 200 carbon emission reduction proposals, Lee said, adding that he hopes they will be approved by the Executive Yuan before the end of the year.
Everyone can contribute to energy conservation, for example by setting their air conditioners at more than 26°C in the summer, he said.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
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Heat advisories were in effect for nine administrative regions yesterday afternoon as warm southwesterly winds pushed temperatures above 38°C in parts of southern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 3:30pm yesterday, Tainan’s Yujing District (玉井) had recorded the day’s highest temperature of 39.7°C, though the measurement will not be included in Taiwan’s official heat records since Yujing is an automatic rather than manually operated weather station, the CWA said. Highs recorded in other areas were 38.7°C in Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門), 38.2°C in Chiayi City and 38.1°C in Pingtung’s Sandimen Township (三地門), CWA data showed. The spell of scorching