Environmental groups marked Earth Day yesterday by issuing four appeals — stop land expropriation; pursue energy transition with caution; set a reasonable price for water; and regulate the treatment of waste.
Environmental groups have put forward a record high 56 proposals this year, which reflects the desperate need for the government to tackle environmental issues, Taiwan Citizen Participation Association director-general Ho Tsung-hsun (何宗勳) told a news conference in Taipei.
Plastic and climate change are among the most relevant environmental issues for this generation, Taiwan Environmental Information Association deputy secretary-general Sun Hsiu-ju (孫秀如) said.
Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times
Last month, the UN Environment Programme passed a resolution calling for a global plastic pollution treaty by 2024 to restrict the production of plastics, she said, adding that the association advocates gradually reducing plastic waste from 2025.
Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association chairman Chen Hsien-cheng (陳憲政) said that the alternative energy Taiwan plans to use to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050 is natural gas, which is also an emitter of carbon.
Pursuing energy transition in haste by constructing many liquefied natural gas terminals would also compromise the marine environment, he said.
Taiwan Environmental Protection Union president Liu Jyh-jian (劉志堅) said that the Executive Yuan should be the competent authority for a proposed climate change response act if it is to be effective.
As for the proposed carbon pricing scheme, the fee should be set and collected within a year of the act being approved, he said.
The government should reduce carbon emissions and establish clear goals to cut emissions to less than 10 percent by 2025, he added.
Liu also proposed that the government introduce a system to identify natural carbon sinks as soon as possible.
Taiwan Water Resources Protection Union director Jennifer Nien (粘麗玉) urged the government to protect water resources, monitor groundwater usage by industry and impose water conservation fees.
Shezidao Self-help Society spokesperson Li Hua-ping (李華萍) demanded that the government stop rezoning and land expropriation.
The government is forcing residents to take part in development projects under the pretense of cooperation, giving them no choice but to accept compensation and resettlement, which is a serious breach of property rights, right to life, right to housing and human dignity, Li said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
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