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.
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