Environmental groups are planning a protest in Taipei on Saturday calling on candidates to address issues involving air pollution and climate change.
The Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association, Air Clean Taiwan and other organizations at a news conference on Thursday announced plans for the protest to be held outside the legislature on Zhongshan S Road.
They raised five demands of the presidential and legislative candidates regarding efforts to improve pollution and climate change.
Photo: Liao Chen-hui, Taipei Times
New officials should within their first year establish a central office dedicated to climate change, air pollution and health equity under the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the groups said.
Efforts should be concentrated first on areas with the most mobile sources of pollution, including densely populated areas, industrial zones and schools, they said.
The groups also called on candidates to widely install air quality monitors and use the data when drafting regulations, as well as propose a timetable for phasing out gas-powered vehicles.
As removing coal is the first solution to air pollution and climate change, the groups also called on Taiwan to join the international Powering Past Coal Alliance.
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