Taipei: Taiwan's 'comprehensive, inclusive, and forward-looking' commitment to long-term policies is aimed at confronting the challenge of climate change, a top official said Thursday.
According to Anadolu Agency, Peng Chi-ming, the environment minister, stated that the administration has presented a 'clear and transparent' nationally determined contribution (NDC) for 2035, setting explicit goals for a low-carbon transition.
The statement came on the eve of the UN COP30 climate change summit set for Nov. 10-21 in Brazil. Peng highlighted that Taiwan is not immune to the growing challenge of climate change, noting how the island's southern and eastern regions were recently affected by typhoons and torrential rainfall, leading to severe flooding and damage. This situation illustrates the profound effect of extreme climate on regional development and public safety.
Peng explained that Taiwan is integrating resources and expanding networks for climate adaptation, as well as disclosing its progress and demonstrating its commitment to meeting its responsibilities concerning the global effort to reduce emissions.
Taiwan is advancing with nationwide climate change adaptation policies in line with Article 7 of the Paris Agreement, which calls for strengthening adaptation actions at all levels. Peng mentioned that Taiwan has established a national climate change adaptation action plan with a four-year cycle covering seven areas, including critical infrastructure, water resources, land use, coasts and oceans, energy supply and industry, agricultural production and biodiversity, and health.
Under President William Lai Ching-te's administration's 'national project of hope,' Taiwan has five major strategies for advancing the net-zero transformation. These strategies include developing an intelligent green energy strategy, promoting a dual-track industrial transformation involving both digitalization and greening, fostering net-zero sustainable lifestyles, ensuring a leading government role supporting the transition, and achieving a just transition that leaves no one behind.
Through an institutional, action-oriented climate governance framework, Taiwan has set new emissions reduction targets of 26-30% by 2030 and 36-40% by 2035 compared with the base year.
Taiwan currently has 20 flagship climate change mitigation action programs, Peng stated. These include accelerated deployment of solar photovoltaics and offshore wind, breakthroughs in geothermal and small hydropower technology, high-tech energy storage, and low-carbon fuels and hydrogen supply chains. This year also marks the first year of carbon pricing in Taiwan, with an initial price set at approximately $10 per metric ton CO2e. The carbon fee system's main objective is reducing emissions, projected to reduce emissions by 37 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) by 2030.
Peng called on all countries to support Taiwan's participation in COP30 in Brazil, emphasizing that such support would empower Taiwan and the international community to jointly respond to the climate crisis. Pointing to COP30's 'Global Mutirao' (collective mobilization) theme, he stated that working together can lead to the full implementation of the Paris Agreement and the creation of a net-zero world.