Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) Minister Lee Ying-yuan (李應元) yesterday delivered Taiwan’s first Voluntary National Review of its efforts toward contributing to the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at a seminar in New York.
Titled A Sustainable Planet for All: Implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, Lee’s talk discussed Taiwan’s strategy to achieve the agenda’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 sub-goals, and how it would localize the goals in response to the nation’s specific problems.
“Taiwan’s performance on many goals is better than many European countries and the US,” Lee said, referring to Taiwan’s health insurance, universal education and women’s political participation.
Photo: CNA
However, a more urgent task for the nation is to prepare for extreme climate changes in line with the “climate action” SDG, he said.
According to the Greenhouse Gas Reduction and Management Act (溫室氣體減量及管理法) promulgated in 2015, the nation’s carbon dioxide emissions in 2050 should be reduced to half of the 2005 volume, which was about 245 million tonnes.
To achieve the long-term goal, the government is to speed up to undertake short-term action, he said, adding that Taiwan has also tightened regulations on certain plastic products.
From January next year, the nation is to prohibit the production of cosmetics that contain small plastic particles, while fewer stores will be allowed to offer free plastic bags to customers, he said.
Lee also told the audience about Taiwanese entrepreneur Clement Hung (洪慶齡), founder of Green Group, who established a “massive” recycling system for plastic waste in Romania, and about Miniwiz cofounder Arthur Huang (黃謙智), whose company successfully converted plastic bottles into building materials for “green” structures.
The seminar was cohosted by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in New York, the International Sustainable Development Foundation, the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University, the Permanent Mission of Solomon Islands to the UN, the Global Island Partnership and the Academic Council on the United Nations System.
Lee’s presentation, which was attended by about 150 people, including delegates of the nation’s diplomatic allies, is part of Taiwan’s ongoing push for greater participation in UN-related organizations.
Lee is slated to attend another forum on SDGs at the TECO in New York today.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
RSS