Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) yesterday urged the government to step up the nation’s climate diplomacy and said that its actions regarding climate change have been “disappointing.”
The nation can already feel the effects of extreme weather, Chiang told a meeting of the KMT’s Central Standing Committee in Taipei.
Memories of agricultural losses caused by damage from cold weather at the end of last year are still fresh, as the nation faces a water shortage this year, he said.
Photo: Ho Tsung-han, Taipei Times
In her first inaugural address on May 20, 2016, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said that the nation would “not be absent on the prevention of global warming and climate change,” and vowed to create an office dedicated to energy and carbon reduction within the Executive Yuan, Chiang said.
While the Office of Energy and Carbon Reduction had planned to hold a meeting once every three months, it held just one meeting last year, on Dec. 30, he said.
Chiang said that it was “ironic” that in her New Year’s address this year, Tsai again brought up the issue and said that the government would “consult widely to identify the future sustainable development methods most appropriate for Taiwan.”
The comments showed that the Tsai administration’s policy on tackling extreme weather “is still stuck in neat rhetoric,” while its actions are “disappointing,” he said.
Taiwan should be aware that climate governance has become a focus of international diplomacy, Chiang said.
Since US President Joe Biden took office in January, the US has rejoined the Paris Agreement, he said.
Chiang cited a joint statement released on Saturday last week following US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry’s visit to China, in which the US and China stated their commitment “to cooperating with each other and with other countries to tackle the climate crisis.”
Amid tensions between the US and China, the climate issue appears to have become “the only remaining consensus” between the two countries, Chiang said.
The Biden administration has called together important leaders from around the world to hold a virtual climate summit starting today, Earth Day, Chiang said.
The event demonstrates that the climate issue is not only “an immediate crisis” that Taiwan cannot avoid, but also an important area for the nation to apply its international diplomatic strategy, he said.
Given the nation’s “difficult” international situation, it is important for Taiwan to seek international recognition through active and pragmatic participation in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change’s Conference of the Parties, and by abiding by various convention guidelines, he said.
The government should invest more resources, and develop policies and measures aimed at expanding the nation’s climate diplomacy, he said.
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