Two top British government officials have expressed their support for Taiwan’s bid to participate as an observer in an upcoming UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) conference.
The 24th Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC, or COP24, is scheduled to start today in Katowice, Poland, and end on Dec. 14. The UNFCCC is an international treaty aimed at stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations and preventing their interference with the global climate system.
Taiwan has since 2009 lobbied to be included in the UNFCCC. Although it is not a member of the UN, Taiwan was allowed to attend one previous climate change meeting.
In response to a written question from British MP George Howarth, British Minister of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Claire Perry on Thursday said in a written answer that the UK’s cooperation on renewable energy with Taiwan has been part of bilateral commercial and economic ties.
The British government last year agreed to start an official dialogue on energy as a component of annual trade talks, with the first meeting taking place in June this year in London between officials of the British Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and the British Department for International Trade, and a Taiwanese delegation led by the Bureau of Energy, she said.
“Broader energy and climate change cooperation between the UK and Taiwan is part of our economic and commercial relationship,” Perry said. “We expect this engagement to continue in the margins of the 24th Conference of the Parties under the UNFCCC next month [this month], though no formal plans have yet been made.”
“Broad cooperation is vital for tackling this global issue,” she added.
In response to a written question by MP Scott Mann, British Minister of State for Asia and the Pacific Mark Field on Tuesday said that the British government has consistently stated its support for Taiwan’s participation in international organizations where the UK believes Taiwan has a valuable contribution to make on issues of global concern.
“This includes the issue of climate change, which does not recognize the concept of territorial boundaries,” Field said in a written answer. “The British government welcomes the contribution Taiwan voluntarily makes in combating climate change, despite not being a signatory to the Framework Convention on Climate Change, and we continue to work closely with Taiwan on this matter.”
Representative to the UK David Lin (林永樂) expressed gratitude to the British government for its support of Taiwan’s bid to participate in international organizations, as well as its friendship with Taiwan.
Earlier this month, the British government said it would discuss with its international partners about Taiwan’s bid to participate in the International Criminal Police Organization, commonly known as Interpol, as an observer.
Super Typhoon Kong-rey is the largest cyclone to impact Taiwan in 27 years, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. Kong-rey’s radius of maximum wind (RMW) — the distance between the center of a cyclone and its band of strongest winds — has expanded to 320km, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. The last time a typhoon of comparable strength with an RMW larger than 300km made landfall in Taiwan was Typhoon Herb in 1996, he said. Herb made landfall between Keelung and Suao (蘇澳) in Yilan County with an RMW of 350km, Chang said. The weather station in Alishan (阿里山) recorded 1.09m of
NO WORK, CLASS: President William Lai urged people in the eastern, southern and northern parts of the country to be on alert, with Typhoon Kong-rey approaching Typhoon Kong-rey is expected to make landfall on Taiwan’s east coast today, with work and classes canceled nationwide. Packing gusts of nearly 300kph, the storm yesterday intensified into a typhoon and was expected to gain even more strength before hitting Taitung County, the US Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center said. The storm is forecast to cross Taiwan’s south, enter the Taiwan Strait and head toward China, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The CWA labeled the storm a “strong typhoon,” the most powerful on its scale. Up to 1.2m of rainfall was expected in mountainous areas of eastern Taiwan and destructive winds are likely
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday at 5:30pm issued a sea warning for Typhoon Kong-rey as the storm drew closer to the east coast. As of 8pm yesterday, the storm was 670km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and traveling northwest at 12kph to 16kph. It was packing maximum sustained winds of 162kph and gusts of up to 198kph, the CWA said. A land warning might be issued this morning for the storm, which is expected to have the strongest impact on Taiwan from tonight to early Friday morning, the agency said. Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) and Green Island (綠島) canceled classes and work
KONG-REY: A woman was killed in a vehicle hit by a tree, while 205 people were injured as the storm moved across the nation and entered the Taiwan Strait Typhoon Kong-rey slammed into Taiwan yesterday as one of the biggest storms to hit the nation in decades, whipping up 10m waves, triggering floods and claiming at least one life. Kong-rey made landfall in Taitung County’s Chenggong Township (成功) at 1:40pm, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The typhoon — the first in Taiwan’s history to make landfall after mid-October — was moving north-northwest at 21kph when it hit land, CWA data showed. The fast-moving storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 184kph, with gusts of up to 227kph, CWA data showed. It was the same strength as Typhoon Gaemi, which was the most
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