Greenpeace yesterday urged the Cabinet’s National Climate Change Committee to discuss strategies for addressing “climate inflation.”
Greenpeace East Asia climate and energy campaigner Lydia Fang (方君維) told a news conference in Taipei that climate change seriously affects the world economy, while “climate inflation” impacts are increasing yearly.
Greenpeace’s survey showed that the cost of food ingredients sold during the Mid-Autumn Festival has increased by nearly 40 percent in the past decade, Fang said.
Photo: Chen Yi-kuan, Taipei Times
The government should acknowledge that solving climate change can slow down inflation, she said, urging President William Lai’s (賴清德) National Climate Change Committee to make “climate inflation” a priority agenda in developing climate strategies.
Short-term strategies should include “climate change compensation” to help people cope with economic losses and damage from natural disasters caused by climate change, which would help reduce the effects on more vulnerable groups, such as children, older people and low-income households, Fang said.
The mid to long-term strategies should include a “net zero investment bill” to fund the purchase of renewable energy power generation equipment by individuals or companies, she said.
The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child’s General Comment No. 26, passed last year, has a special focus on climate change, recognizing that children have a right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lin Yue-chin (林月琴) told the news conference.
The document also states that governments must take all necessary, appropriate and reasonable measures to protect against climate change-related harms to children’s rights that are caused or perpetuated by businesses, and to ensure that corporations rapidly reduce their emissions, she said.
Lin said she would ask the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics to consider those issues when formulating policies, so that the next generation does not face unlivable conditions and a rapidly growing gap between the rich and the poor due to climate change.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Huang Chien-pin (黃建賓) said that climate change has had a serious effect on agriculture in Taitung County, limiting output and the stability of prices.
“We indeed need to think carefully about what kind of environment we want to leave for our next generations,” he said.
KMT Legislator Jonathan Lin (林沛祥) said that a phrase he heard during an international conference he attended last year had stuck with him: “Climate change and global warming would not destroy the world, but would cause human extinction.”
Climate change not only causes rising sea levels, but also practical food issues, he said, adding that usually crabs can be harvested in Keelung or along the northern coast around the Mid-Autumn Festival, but now they can only be found after October, and the harvest amount and quality have fallen.
“Net zero emissions is the only path forward, and going against nature would only harm humans,” he said.
The Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association has cautioned Japanese travelers to be vigilant against pickpockets at several popular tourist spots in Taiwan, including Taipei’s night markets, the Yongkang Street area, Zhongshan MRT Station, and Jiufen (九份) in New Taipei City. The advisory, titled “Recent Development of Concerns,” was posted on the association’s Web site under its safety and emergency report section. It urges travelers to keep backpacks fully zipped and carried in front, with valuables placed at the bottom of the bag. Visitors are advised to be especially mindful of their belongings when taking photos or speaking on the phone, avoid storing wallets and
ENDORSING TAIWAN: Honduran presidential candidate Nasry Afura said that Honduras was ‘100 times better off’ when it was allied with Taipei The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said it would explore the possibility of restoring diplomatic relations with Honduras based on the principle of maintaining national interests and dignity. The ministry made the remarks in response to reporters’ questions regarding an article titled: “Will Taiwan Regain a Diplomatic Ally?” published in The Diplomat on Saturday. The article said Honduras’ presidential election in November could offer Taiwan the chance to regain an ally, as multiple candidates have promoted re-establishing diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Honduras severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan in March 2023 in favor of Beijing, but since switching its diplomatic recognition,
Scoot announced yesterday that starting in October, it would increase flights between Taipei and Japan’s Narita airport and Hokkaido, and between Singapore and Taipei. The low-cost airline, a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines, also said it would launch flights to Chiang Rai in Thailand, Okinawa and Tokyo’s Haneda airport between December and March next year. Flights between Singapore and Chiang Rai would begin on Jan. 1, with five flights per week operated by an Embraer E190-E2 aircraft, Scoot said. Flights between Singapore and Okinawa would begin on Dec. 15, with three flights per week operated by Airbus A320 aircraft, the airline said. Services between Singapore
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday announced a ban on all current and former government officials from traveling to China to attend a military parade on Sept. 3, which Beijing is to hold to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War. "This year marks the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II and the Republic of China’s victory in the War of Resistance [Against Japan]," MAC Deputy Minister and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) told a regular news briefing in Taipei. To prevent Beijing from using the Sept. 3 military parade and related events for "united
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