Aside from subscribing to the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), Taiwan has set up an 18th goal of becoming nuclear-free by 2025, Vice President Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) said yesterday in Taipei.
Promoting sustainable development is a shared vision and responsibility of humankind, and the nation has been working to mitigate the effects of climate change and global warming, Chen said at the founding ceremony of the Alliance for Sustainable Development Goals.
In addition to the UN’s 17 SDGs, Taiwan has set an 18th goal of phasing out nuclear energy by 2025, while working to develop a world-class green energy industry, he added.
The alliance was initiated by Eugene Chien (簡又新), chairman of the alliance as well as the Taiwan Institute for Sustainable Energy.
It incorporates members from government agencies, businesses, non-governmental organizations, college and research agencies, including Academia Sinica — the nation’s highest academic institution — and the Industrial Technology Research Institute, Chien said.
Developing renewable energy is key to building a sustainable society, European Economic and Trade Office head Madeleine Majorenko said, emphasizing the importance of global partnership, shared responsibility and mutual accountability in achieving the goals.
Premier William Lai (賴清德) said he expects more collaborations with the alliance.
Chinese National Association of Industry and Commerce chairman Lin Por-fong (林伯豐) — who urged the government to continue supporting nuclear power at a meeting with Lai on Monday last week — yesterday voiced his support for the alliance, saying that promoting SDGs could lead to “boundless commercial opportunities” and burnish a company’s public image.
Businesses should focus on seven SDGs — clean water and sanitation, affordable and clean energy, sustainable cities and communities, responsible consumption and production, climate action, life on land and partnerships for the goals, Lin said.
Representatives of eight industries, including Teco Electric & Machinery Co, Taiwan Cement Corp, AU Optronics Corp and E.Sun Financial Holding Co, also talked at the ceremony about their efforts to promote corporate social responsibility.
Former Czech Republic-based Taiwanese researcher Cheng Yu-chin (鄭宇欽) has been sentenced to seven years in prison on espionage-related charges, China’s Ministry of State Security announced yesterday. China said Cheng was a spy for Taiwan who “masqueraded as a professor” and that he was previously an assistant to former Cabinet secretary-general Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰). President-elect William Lai (賴清德) on Wednesday last week announced Cho would be his premier when Lai is inaugurated next month. Today is China’s “National Security Education Day.” The Chinese ministry yesterday released a video online showing arrests over the past 10 years of people alleged to be
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