More than 20 environmental experts from 12 nations yesterday gathered at the fourth International Environmental Partnership forum hosted by the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) to discuss circular economy issues.
The two-day forum, which is taking place at Howard Civil Service International House in Taipei, was inaugurated yesterday.
The forum was initiated in 2014 by former US EPA administrator Gina McCarthy during her visit to Taiwan, EPA Minister Lee Ying-yuan (李應元) said at the opening, adding that it has become a collaborative event between the two agencies.
Since then, the program has inspired more than 60 activities involving more than 40 nations and 50 non-governmental organizations (NGOs), he said.
Taiwan has paid a great environmental cost, such as water and soil pollution, in its pursuit of economic development, he said, adding that the nation can help others avoid paying a similar price by sharing its experiences.
American Institute in Taiwan Deputy Director Robert Forden said that the forum is a great opportunity, and he hopes “to demonstrate to the global community that Taiwan should be welcome as part of the solution [to environmental problems].”
A circular economy, in addition to reducing and recycling waste, can “stimulate job creation, a fact that President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) recognized when she named the circular economy one of the ‘five plus two’ innovative industries,” Forden said, adding that he looks forward to broadening collaboration between the two EPAs and businesses in both nations.
“A circular economy is no longer just a term that’s used by NGOs. It’s now also a common goal shared by governments ... and by the general public,” European Economic and Trade Office head Madeleine Majorenko said.
The European Commission in 2015 adopted “a very ambitious circular economy package,” which includes targets such as recycling 65 percent of municipal waste and 75 percent of packaging waste by 2030, Majorenko said, adding that the package requires “fundamental changes to our daily activities.”
Almere Mayor Franc Weerwind told how Almere, a satellite city of Amsterdam, has become a “circular city” by using waste as a raw material.
According to the goals of the “Almere 2.0” program, the city aims to become energy neutral and waste-free by 2022, when it is to host the seventh Floriade Almere international horticultural exhibition.
Almere and its sister city, Taichung, are also to organize the World Floral Exposition in Taichung next year, the EPA said in a news release.
An essay competition jointly organized by a local writing society and a publisher affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) might have contravened 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), the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said on Thursday. “In this case, the partner organization is clearly an agency under the CCP’s Fujian Provincial Committee,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said at a news briefing in Taipei. “It also involves bringing Taiwanese students to China with all-expenses-paid arrangements to attend award ceremonies and camps,” Liang said. Those two “characteristics” are typically sufficient
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck about 33km off the coast of Hualien City was the "main shock" in a series of quakes in the area, with aftershocks expected over the next three days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Prior to the magnitude 5.9 quake shaking most of Taiwan at 6:53pm yesterday, six other earthquakes stronger than a magnitude of 4, starting with a magnitude 5.5 quake at 6:09pm, occurred in the area. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) confirmed that the quakes were all part of the same series and that the magnitude 5.5 temblor was
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of
The Central Weather Administration has issued a heat alert for southeastern Taiwan, warning of temperatures as high as 36°C today, while alerting some coastal areas of strong winds later in the day. Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門) and Pingtung County’s Neipu Township (內埔) are under an orange heat alert, which warns of temperatures as high as 36°C for three consecutive days, the CWA said, citing southwest winds. The heat would also extend to Tainan’s Nansi (楠西) and Yujing (玉井) districts, as well as Pingtung’s Gaoshu (高樹), Yanpu (鹽埔) and Majia (瑪家) townships, it said, forecasting highs of up to 36°C in those areas
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