Taiwan’s efforts to reduce carbon emissions were showcased this weekend in Glasgow at COP26 Taiwan Day. The event, which took place on Sunday 7th November 2021 at the Radisson Blu Hotel, saw speakers from across government, politics, business and industry talk both virtually and in-person on a variety of topics relating to Taiwan’s contribution to the fight against climate change.
President Tsai Ing-wen opened the event with a virtual address, reiterating that Taiwan is determined to join the world in working toward the goal of carbon neutrality by 2050. “Taiwan is willing and capable to work side-by-side with our international partners to achieve our collective goal of net-zero emissions by 2050,” President Tsai said, “Taiwan regards attaining net-zero and mitigating crisis as our collective and generational responsibility. And for this very reason, Taiwan should be included as part of the solution to address the global climate crisis. No single country can do this alone.”
Deputy Minister of the Environmental Protection Administration Dr. Chih-Hsiu Shen, Head of Taiwan’s Delegation to the COP26 Climate Conference, echoed President Tsai’s speech, saying “Taiwan is joining the global effort to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.” He continued, “To show our determination to get there, we’ve initiated amendments to our Greenhouse Gas Reduction and Management Act to transition to the Climate Change Response Act.” “Taiwan is continuing in its efforts to combat climate change in all sectors… We will fulfil our duty as a responsible global citizen, and bring Taiwan closer to those who share common values with us.”
Representative Kelly W. Hsieh of the Taipei Representative Office in the UK stressed the importance of President Tsai’s pledge to the international community to achieve net-zero, saying “This statement is significant as it is made right here in Glasgow during COP-26 and right now at this Taiwan Day occasion, pledging our determination to embark on the path to net-zero emissions.” He reflected that “It is unfortunate that Taiwan cannot take part in the UNFCCC and the COP26 meetings simply for unfair political reasons.”
Member of the Scottish Parliament for Glasgow and Shadow Minister for Public Finance, Paul Sweeney, remarked “President Tsai’s commitment to Net-Zero by 2025 is one of the most ambitions climate change commitments in the region.” “As two island nations we share some common climate challenges. Taiwan’s plan to achieve a just transition is wonderful news and an inspiration.”
COP26 Taiwan Day saw an exchange of expertise and knowledge from a variety of different stakeholders from Taiwan, the UK and beyond. Drawing on the experiences of business, politics and civil society, the event put Taiwan’s determination and capability to join the international community in fighting against climate change and achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 on full show.
The day was divided into a series of speeches and discussions spread out over two parts, focusing on different aspects of Taiwan’s efforts to join the fight against climate change. Please find the details of the day and the agenda below.
The first part of the COP26 Taiwan focused on “Green Energy, Taiwan With You”, with Deputy Minister at the Ministry of Economic Affairs Wen-Sheng Tseng giving the opening remarks for the session. Dr. Alan Tze-luen Lin, the Deputy Chief Executive of the Executive Yuan’s Energy and Carbon Reduction Office, moderated a discussion between Taoyuan City Mayor Wen-Tsan Cheng, Lord Nicol Stephen, Assistant General Manager Cheng-Chih Tsai of the Yeong Guan Energy Technology Group and Ming-Shan Jeng, the Deputy General Director of ITRI’s Green Energy and Environment Research Laboratories. The focus of their conversation with Green Energy in Taiwan.
The first part of COP26 Taiwan Day continued with a discussion on “Green Energy, Taiwan Can Help”, with the Director General of the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Department of International Cooperation, Hao-chih Liao, giving a speech on “Building the Offshore Wind Industry in Taiwan”, a topic that was also touched on by Lucas Lin, the Chief Executive Officer of Swancor Renewable Energy, SRE. They were joined by Tien-Yu Lin, Chairman of Star Shining Energy and Vice President of Energy Business AUO and Hui-Ping Chen, Co-Founder of SunnyFounder and the President of Taiwan Green Energy for Charity Association.
The second part of COP26 Taiwan focused on “Green Finance and Taiwan-UK Climate Action Exchange”, with an online keynote speech on “Circular Collaboration for the Climate Crisis” given by Charles Huang, the Chairman and Founder of the Circular Taiwan Network. Joe Lai, the Director-General of the Department of International Affairs of Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission then kicked off the first session of the afternoon, moderating speeches and a discussion on Taiwan’s role in providing Green Finance. The session included speeches by Brenda, the Director General of the Department of Planning of the Financial Supervisory Commission, and Sophia Cheng, the Chief Investment Officer of Cathay Financial Holdings and Chair of Asia Investor Group on Climate Change.
The final session of the day focused on Taiwan-UK Climate Action Exchange, moderated by Dr. Leslie Mabon of the Open University. Taiwan Legislator Hung Mong-Kai spoke on how Taiwan will accelerate to keep pace with the world in tackling climate change, whilst fellow Legislator Hung Sun-Han talked to audiences on Taiwan’s response to climate change and the energy transition.
They were followed by the Member of Parliament for Glasgow South, Stewart McDonald MP, who reflected on the foreign policy implication of climate change. Member of the Scottish Parliament for the West Scotland region, Paul O’Kane MSP, finished the day’s speeches on talking about other countries could learn from Taiwan, remarking, “Scotland and Taiwan have plenty of opportunities to learn from each other when it comes to making the green transition”.
Stewart McDonald MP said that he believed that the world could learn from Taiwan. He informed the gathering that: “Today’s Taiwan event at COP26 is an important part of marshalling the world towards a just transition to save our planet. “It’s been a pleasure to take part in such fascinating discussions with colleagues from Taiwan - from whom the world has much to learn - and share some of my thoughts on the foreign and security policy challenges that climate change is forcing us to confront.
Paul O’Kane MSP wished for Taiwan to be more involved in the UN’s climate change structure. Mr O’Kane said “I only wish that Taiwan was able to attend as a full member of the United Nations framework Convention on climate change. The threat we face is one common to every nation and individual on the planet, regardless of political considerations. It is in this spirit that we must support Taiwan’s professional, pragmatic, and meaningful participation in the UN F Triple C (UNFCCC).
