A greater number of international companies are to be invited to participate in the Asia Pacific Forum and Exposition for Sustainability (APFES) next year, Taiwan Institute for Sustainable Energy chairman Eugene Chien (簡又新) said in a ceremony in Taipei yesterday held to thank the participating schools, companies, city governments and nongovernmental organizations that took part in this year’s event.
“Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, we could not invite many international firms to come to the exposition this year… We hope it can become a bridge to connect domestic firms with other international companies and facilitate exchanges on sustainability issues,” he said.
The exposition provides the public with an opportunity to interact directly with firms, universities and non-governmental groups to learn about the efforts they are making to achieve sustainability, Chien said.
Photo: Fang Bin-chao, Taipei Times
A sustainable operation is defined as one that ensures social justice and environmental protection in the process of developing the economy, he said.
Environment, social and governance (ESG) criteria — which measure the positive and negative effects of business practices on society — have since 2020 been more warmly embraced by corporations, he said, adding that the EU and the US are regulating businesses that claim to follow ESG practices.
Taiwan Integrated Disaster Prevention of Technology Engineering Consulting director Chia Hsin-hsing (賈新興) spoke at a forum at the exposition about the effects of climate change.
Photo: Fang Bin-chao, Taipei Times
“In the US, there has been flooding, drought and wildfires occurring simultaneously. Meanwhile, Europeans were overwhelmed by heat waves this summer,” he said.
In Taipei on Aug. 8, 2013, the Central Weather Bureau recorded a record temperature of 39.3°C. On July 24, 2020, a record high of 39.7°C was reached, Chia said.
In 2020, Taipei had nearly 60 days where temperatures reached 35°C or higher, he said, adding that the city now has a warmer winter and longer summer, and the change of seasons has become less obvious.
Between 1897 and last year, the rise in annual rainfall in Taipei was not as great as the temperature. However, rainfall appeared to increase after 1985, Chia said, adding that Taipei has recorded more than 200mm of rain in one day multiple times since 2000.
In every Taipei district, the highest hourly rainfall exceeded 90mm, he said.
While climate change has slowed the movement of typhoons and tropical storms formed in the northwest Pacific Ocean by about 20 percent, Chia said that a typhoon’s strength could increase more quickly.
“In two days, a typhoon’s speed could turn from a car driving in the city to that of the high-speed rail,” he said.
LOUD AND PROUD Taiwan might have taken a drubbing against Australia and Japan, but you might not know it from the enthusiasm and numbers of the fans Taiwan might not be expected to win the World Baseball Classic (WBC) but their fans are making their presence felt in Tokyo, with tens of thousands decked out in the team’s blue, blowing horns and singing songs. Taiwanese fans have packed out the Tokyo Dome for all three of their games so far and even threatened to drown out home team supporters when their team played Japan on Friday. They blew trumpets, chanted for their favorite players and had their own cheerleading squad who dance on a stage during the game. The team struggled to match that exuberance on the field, with
UPDATED TEST: The new rules aim to assess drivers’ awareness of risky behaviors and how they respond under certain circumstances, the Highway Bureau said Driver’s license applicants who fail to yield to pedestrians at intersections or to check blind spots, or omit pointing-and-calling procedures would fail the driving test, the Highway Bureau said yesterday. The change is set to be implemented at the end of the month, and is part of the bureau’s reform of the driving portion of the test, which has been criticized for failing to assess whether drivers can operate vehicles safely. Sedan drivers would be tested regarding yielding to pedestrians and turning their heads to check blind spots, while drivers of large vehicles would be tested on their familiarity with pointing-and-calling
Whether Japan would help defend Taiwan in case of a cross-strait conflict would depend on the US and the extent to which Japan would be allowed to act under the US-Japan Security Treaty, former Japanese minister of defense Satoshi Morimoto said. As China has not given up on the idea of invading Taiwan by force, to what extent Japan could support US military action would hinge on Washington’s intention and its negotiation with Tokyo, Morimoto said in an interview with the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) yesterday. There has to be sufficient mutual recognition of how Japan could provide
A Taiwanese man apologized on Friday after saying in a social media post that he worked with Australia to provide scouting reports on Taiwan’s team, enabling Australia’s victory in this year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC), saying it was a joke and that he did not hold any position with foreign teams or Taiwan’s sports training center. Chen Po-hao (陳柏豪) drew the rage of many Taiwan baseball fans when he posted online on Thursday night, claiming credit for Australia’s 3-0 win over Taiwan in the opening game for Pool C, saying he worked as a physical therapist with the national team and
RSS