The Taiwan Disaster Prevention Industry Association on Thursday declared a climate emergency in Taiwan, urging the government to devise medium to long-term measures to prepare for climate change.
If the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide continues to increase at its current pace, it would exceed 450 parts per million by 2036, causing a rise of 2°C in global temperatures, the group of disaster prevention experts from industry, government and academia said.
Calling it an emergency is not meant to invoke fear, but is intended to highlight the need for early preparation for global warming, otherwise Taiwan could be caught in severe problems it would be unable to fix, they said.
That is why leaders in Taiwan should propose strategies, one of which should be to integrate disaster prevention systems across all governmental levels, association director Peng Chi-ming (彭啟明) said.
Climate change would affect Taiwan’s industries, National Chiao Tung University civil engineering professor Shan Hsin-yu (單信瑜) said.
As the nation relies heavily on energy imports, the government should find ways to encourage reduced consumption of energy resources.
“Taiwan is no longer a frog sitting in tepid water, the water is already boiling,” Shan said.
The nation must admit that measures taken up to this point to combat global warming are no longer enough to limit its changes, and Taiwan lacks a climate vision, unlike its neighbors, Ming Chuan University architecture professor Wang Jieh-jiuh (王价巨) said.
Japan proposed a nationwide disaster prevention project in 2013, Wang said.
UN data show that Taiwan faces some of the highest risks of climate change consequences, said Yao Ta-chun (姚大鈞), chief executive of Eos Rhea Metis, a corporate and engineering risk management consulting firm.
The government should respond to the association’s statement and mobilize all parts of society to minimize losses, Yao said.
The group’s statement asked for four actions from the government: First, it should set clear carbon-reduction goals.
Second, the government should integrate its disaster prevention systems across all levels, and introduce a complete set of disaster prevention laws and plans, it said.
Third, it should open communication channels between it and the private sector to ensure better coordination and distribution of work, the statement said.
Last, more resources must be devoted to medium and long-term solutions, such as creating a green supply chain, mitigating the impact on global supply chains and turning the crisis into a new opportunity, it added.
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