Ahead of this year’s UN Climate Change Conference in Belem, Brazil, the question of climate action once again becomes closely aligned with emissions reductions and the encouragement of renewable energy.
However, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), UN-published goals for all UN member states, highlight that climate action (SDG 13) should not be viewed as a separate issue, but together with consumption and production practices (SDG 12).
India and Taiwan, despite the differences in size and economics, represent arguments for a pragmatic approach to addressing both of these goals — and why this approach can yield useful lessons applicable elsewhere.
Taiwan’s economy is integrated with supply chains globally. Its high-tech components are necessary to build smartphones and electric cars.
India offers a different scenario. Domestic demand for goods is rising fast due to rising incomes, increasing demand for energy, cement, steel and plastics. This development poses risk of resource-intensive growth at a time when there is a requirement for a transition toward efficiency and sustainability.
Actions to slow climate change are not viable if consumption and production patterns are not made green. The climate crisis is also a crisis of materials, waste and consumption. India and Taiwan stand at different points on this spectrum but complement each other. Taiwan has the best-in-class advanced waste minimization technology, advanced systems of recycling and sophisticated industries, but struggles to reduce consumption of energy-intensive commodities. India has pioneered low-cost, large-scale deployments of clean energy and community-level restraint, but has weaknesses in waste management, pollution and supply chain inefficiencies. Combining their strengths would help both nations stay resilient in a carbon-constrained world.
Another opportunity for partnership lies in circular manufacturing. Taiwanese enterprises have placed initial bets on recycling electronics and recovering industrial heat, but it requires large markets. India’s rising demand and urban growth make it a natural partner in designing circular supply chains that prevent waste before it begins. India’s innovations in inexpensive solar appliances and modular homes might find a test case in Taiwan’s counties seeking to cut emissions without lowering the standards of living.
Food systems are a second convergence of SDG 12 and SDG 13. Both nations regard dietary changes and city lifestyles as factors that increase food waste, and can share solutions to address it.
The Asia-Pacific Forum and Exposition for Sustainability was a good platform to showcase such synergies. Instead of treating climate action and responsible consumption and production as two separate pathways, India and Taiwan have an opportunity to increase efficiencies by launching connected projects.
The exclusion of Taiwan from official UN processes obliges it to find credible means to express its international influence. The link between SDG 12 and SDG 13 allows Taiwan to participate not just as a member of climate processes, but also as a leader in responsible production, a sphere in which its technological strengths are obvious. India’s partnership with Taiwan on sustainable consumption shows its climate plan is about practical solutions, not just lofty goals.
Both countries cannot afford to wait. In Taiwan, dense cities and aging populations make waste and energy inaction costly; in India, resource-heavy growth threatens its demographic promise. Both societies desire wealth without ecological meltdown. Working SDG 13 and SDG 12 in parallel is the only credible means of getting there.
A century ago, global trade was measured mostly in grain and coal. Today, trade has broadened to semiconductors and smartphones, but the fundamental question never varies: Can consumption and production pay off for societies without overdrawing the planet’s resources?
Collaborative action on India’s and Taiwan’s part to transform societal habits can demonstrate to the world that a positive solution is attainable. This would bring them closer to SDG 13 while showing that responsible consumption and production are essential for any credible climate plan.
Sutandra Singha is an independent researcher with a doctorate in international studies from Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, India, specializing in climate change.
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