New Taipei leads drive to cut carbon emissions in Taiwan

2016/04/13

New Taipei City in northern Taiwan is slashing greenhouse gasses and leading the way in helping Taiwan reach its carbon emissions reduction goal in the 21st century and beyond.

Initiatives like installing light-emitting diode, or LED, bulbs in 220,000 street lamps, as well as encouraging greater use of the public bike rental system YouBike through offering the first 30 minutes of use free, are examples of successful local government undertakings aimed at keeping New Taipei on the road to sustainable and low-carbon city status.

New Taipei is also winning international recognition for its greening efforts. In December 2015, it was named one of the 10 best metropolises in the world for climate reporting by London-based Carbon Disclosure Project. A month earlier, the city was the first in Asia to achieve full compliance with climate change action announced by the Compact of Mayors, a New York-based organization and the world’s largest coalition of city leaders committed to combating climate change.

To further its efforts, the New Taipei City Government organized climate change forum April 10 in Banqiao District, gathering local academics and representatives of the private and public sectors to discuss strategies to fight against climate change. “Facing the severe challenges brought by climate change, we have to be well-prepared and work hand in hand to cut carbon emissions and conserve biodiversity,” Mayor Eric Chu said.

Looking forward, the city pledged to achieve its goal of reducing greenhouse gasses by half from the 2008 level to 18.1 million metric tons by 2016; 13.7 million metric tons by 2030; and 9.2 million by 2050.

This is to be achieved through the local government’s Green City of the Future approach comprising focus areas green architecture, green transportation, green energy, recycling resources and sustainable living environment.

In December 2015, the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change adopted the Paris Agreement on climate change during the 21st session of the Conference of the Parties and the 11th session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol. The agreement is due to enter into force in 2020.

Although Taiwan is not a UNFCCC member or observer due to international political factors, it has taken major steps to promote greenhouse gas emission reductions in line with global commitments. These include announcement of the Intended Nationally Determined Contribution in September 2015, enactment of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction and Management Act in July the same year, enactment of the Renewable Energy Development Act in July 2009 and ongoing implementation of international emission standards in the nation’s six special municipalities—Kaohsiung, New Taipei, Taichung, Tainan, Taipei and Taoyuan.

According to the latest Cabinet plan, carbon emissions by Taiwan’s five major economic sectors will be capped at 251.04 million metric tons in 2016. This complements the INDC targets of reducing greenhouse gasses to 214 million tons by 2030. This is 20 percent lower than the 2005 level, and will bring the national total in 2050 to half that of 2005.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=243769&ctNode=2194&mp=9)