By Director General Charles Chou
This month, the 2024 Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), is being held in Azerbaijan from November 11- November 22. As this annual conference assembles once again, it is crucial to emphasize that, once more, Taiwan has been excluded from participating in this important conversation.
As a member of the international community, Taiwan has faced significant challenges due to climate change in recent years, including record-breaking droughts, severe rainfall, and life-threatening typhoons (or hurricanes).
Despite these challenges, Taiwan remains committed to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. Taiwan’s exclusion from the UNFCCC not only deprives the island of valuable resources to combat climate change, but also deprives the global community of Taiwan’s contributions to the UNFCCC’s goals.
Taiwan has consistently demonstrated its readiness to align with the objectives of the UNFCCC and the implementation of the Paris Agreement. In addition to the
2050 net-zero emissions target in Taiwan’s Climate Change Response Act, the country has committed to establishing an emissions trading system within the next four years, which will gradually introduce a carbon tax and integrate it into global markets. This aligns directly with Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, which promotes international cooperation on climate action through market mechanisms, such as carbon pricing, to achieve more ambitious climate targets.
Taiwan has also pledged to establish a multilevel disaster prevention system to improve disaster response and build resilience, in alignment with Article 7 of the Paris Agreement, which focuses on enhancing adaptive capacity, strengthening resilience, and reducing vulnerability to climate change.
Taiwan has established itself as a hub for technology and innovation, it has proven its capacity to contribute to renewable energy, climate adaptation, and low-carbon technological innovation. It is unjust to continue excluding Taiwan from contributing to an issue that affects all communities, regardless of political standing.
We sincerely hope that the UNFCCC will extend the opportunity for Taiwan to participate, and we urge all countries to express support for Taiwan’s inclusion in future annual conventions. Taiwan’s participation in the UNFCCC is essential to achieving net-zero emissions in the international community.
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