Experts today urged the government to establish a platform that integrates climate-related data to address fragmented tools used to measure climate change.
The government should not wait until the carbon fee is collected next year, as it would then be too late, they told a news conference held by the Taiwan Science and Technology Media Center ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP30) this month.
COP30, which is to be held in Brazil starting on Monday next week, is expected to discuss nationally determined contribution (NDC) targets, including emission reduction targets for 2035.
Photo: Reuters
The summit is also expected to address significant funding gaps for developing countries in climate adaptation and explore practical mechanisms.
Brazil has proposed initiatives such as a "global common carbon market" and a "Tropical Forest Forever Facility."
As US President Donald Trump’s administration reduced subsidies and investment in green technology and cut international green funding commitments, it may have a negative short-term impact on momentum, Taiwan Research Institute Research Division IX director Yen Wan-ting (顏婉庭) said.
However, the long-term trend remains positive, as major economies like the EU, Japan and South Korea maintain net-zero ambitions, with many market mechanisms and standards already in place, she said.
Regarding Taiwan’s emissions goals, Taiwan Climate Action Network Research Center director Chao Chia-wei (趙家緯) said the government has proposed reducing carbon emissions by 36 percent to 40 percent by 2035 relative to the 2005 baseline and presented a draft NDC in September.
However, according to scenario analysis, even with a 38 or 40 percent reduction by 2035, the nation would only achieve about an 80 percent reduction level by 2050, falling short of the statutory 2050 net zero goal, Chao said.
Regarding adaptation efforts, Tung Ching-pin (童慶斌), a professor at National Taiwan University's Department of Bioenvironmental Systems Engineering, said the government should immediately invest in integrating information and adaptation technologies rather than wait for next year’s carbon fee revenues to start planning.
The nation’s existing climate decision support tools are fragmented, with areas such as the water, energy, transportation and health sectors operating independently, he said.
Interfaces and data are difficult to integrate, hindering systemic cross-sectoral risk assessment, he said.
Citing railway construction as an example, he said that adaptation efforts involve assessing risks such as high temperatures, slope collapse and flooding.
These data currently belong to three different agencies and vary in format, making integration difficult, he said.
The government needs to transform existing scientific data into effective adaptation strategies by building an information platform that would allow railway authorities to directly use integrated data to assess vulnerabilities, without having to handle core climate data themselves, he said.
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