Greenpeace Taiwan yesterday asked President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to quickly devise long-term solutions to energy issues and climate change.
The group said that 1,298 government agencies and organizations worldwide have declared a climate emergency to combat climate change consequences, but Taiwan still lacks adequate action plans.
During the presidential campaign period, climate policies proposed by the three candidates, including Tsai, were rated by Greenpeace Taiwan, which concluded that they all performed “below average.”
Photo courtesy of Greenpeace Taiwan
The Tsai administration has failed to present proactive carbon-cutting goals and long-term plans for energy transformation, it said, adding that the results of carbon reduction in the past four years were disappointing, while a lack of improvement would make it difficult to keep the climate crisis at bay.
Without stricter measures to reduce carbon, Taiwan would only slow other countries down in the global efforts to mitigate climate change, Greenpeace Taiwan energy project campaign specialist Alynne Tsai (蔡篤慰) said.
While Tsai Ing-wen has unveiled long-term plans for the development of offshore wind power, other areas of green energy development still lack vision, making development goals after 2025 for other renewable energy sources an urgent need, Alynne Tsai said.
Now that Tsai Ing-wen has won a second term, she should follow the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change guidelines to keep rising temperatures within 1.5°C of pre-industrial levels to prevent a climate catastrophe, Greenpeace Taiwan said.
A complete timeline to phase out coal power is needed, too, it said.
Greenpeace Taiwan said that the government’s four most urgent climate change policies are, in descending order: carbon-cutting goals, long-term plans for the development of renewables, renewables obligations for major power consumers and a timeline to phase out coal power.
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
INCREASED CAPACITY: The flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays would leave Singapore in the morning and Taipei in the afternoon Singapore Airlines is adding four supplementary flights to Taipei per week until May to meet increased tourist and business travel demand, the carrier said on Friday. The addition would raise the number of weekly flights it operates to Taipei to 18, Singapore Airlines Taiwan general manager Timothy Ouyang (歐陽漢源) said. The airline has recorded a steady rise in tourist and business travel to and from Taipei, and aims to provide more flexible travel arrangements for passengers, said Ouyang, who assumed the post in July last year. From now until Saturday next week, four additional flights would depart from Singapore on Monday, Wednesday, Friday
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday reported the return of large-scale Chinese air force activities after their unexplained absence for more than two weeks, which had prompted speculation regarding Beijing’s motives. China usually sends fighter jets, drones and other military aircraft around the nation on a daily basis. Interruptions to such routine are generally caused by bad weather. The Ministry of National Defense said it had detected 26 Chinese military aircraft in the Taiwan Strait over the previous 24 hours. It last reported that many aircraft on Feb. 25, when it spotted 30 aircraft, saying Beijing was carrying out another “joint combat
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) today said that if South Korea does not reply appropriately to its request to correct Taiwan’s name on its e-Arrival card system before March 31, it would take corresponding measures to alter how South Korea is labeled on the online Taiwan Arrival Card system. South Korea’s e-Arrival card system lists Taiwan as “China (Taiwan)” in the “point of departure” and “next destination” fields. The ministry said that it changed the nationality for South Koreans on Taiwan’s Alien Resident Certificates from “Korea” to “South Korea” on March 1, in a gesture of goodwill and based on the
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