Decentralization, localization, ethics and more public participation may be solutions to challenges that the environmental campaign is facing worldwide, speakers said at a conference in Taipei yesterday.
“Previously, mistakes and failures by human societies were limited — in both space and time — in the damage they could achieve,” said Brendan Mackey, chairman of Earth Charter Initiative’s (ECI) International Education Advisory Committee.
ECI is a worldwide organization based in Costa Rica that promotes the values found in the Earth Charter such as sustainable development, social and economic justice, as well as democracy, non-violence and peace.
“However, this is no longer the case since the development of weapons of mass destruction, the ecological footprint of human land use activities, the creation and discharge of pollutants, the depletion and overuse of natural resources and now anthropogenic climate,” he told the conference which was co-hosted by Earth Charter Taiwan, Taiwan Ecological Stewardship Association and National Taiwan Normal University’s Graduate Institute of Environmental Education. “Humans are now the major force of global change on this planet, with the net result being a massive degradation in our life support systems.”
While many people work hard to preserve the environment and protect ecosystems, the progress is slow, as many governments are driven by the need to protect their immediate national interests and economic competitiveness in negotiations about solving global problems, he said. It is therefore important for environmentalists around the world to join forces, while acting locally, he added.
Citing examples from battles across the country to fight hazards brought by radiation, Taiwan Electromagnetic Radiation Hazard Protection and Control Association chairwoman Chen Chiao-hwa (陳椒華) said that although only a limited number of protesters participate at each demonstration, the total number of people taking part in the campaign against radiation hazards is quite shocking.
“The anti-radiation hazard campaign is perhaps the one with most participants and most victims in Taiwan’s environmental movement history,” she said. “Yet, their demonstrations are usually fruitless since each campaign is launched separately and usually doesn’t last too long.”
While solidarity seems to be a must, a campaign could become elitist when it’s too centralized, the panelists said.
“Everyone, including environmental groups, can only have limited ability, hence an elitist campaign to stop destruction of the environment is like a dog trying to stop a train by barking at it,” Environment and Animal Society of Taiwan chairman Wu Hung (朱增宏) said.
Mackey said that although many people consider ethics and traditional values impractical in the environmental movement, “there are actually ways to respect and interact with nature in the ethics and traditional values of most cultures.”
For example, some environmental groups have been trying to work with religious groups that advocate vegetarianism, Wu said.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to