The Taiwanese public is highly aware of the global climate change issue, but perhaps underestimates the gravity of the problem, European Economic and Trade Office (EETO) director Guy Ledoux said at the opening of an exhibition on climate change at Taipei City Hall yesterday.
“Taiwan is the world’s 26th-largest economy and produces around 1 percent of the world’s total greenhouse gas emissions. During the past 18 years, Taiwan’s carbon dioxide emissions have grown by more than 140 percent. It is time for Taiwan to seriously face up to this challenge,” he said, urging the quick passage of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Act currently under legislative review.
The purpose of the exhibition, Ledoux said, is to raise public awareness on the seriousness of global warming and how it affects the daily lives of people in Taiwan.
A recent poll by the Taiwan Public Opinion Studies Association showed that a majority of Taiwanese believe environmental protection should take precedence over economic development, he said.
However, the poll indicated that the top three environmental issues among Taiwanese are landscape preservation, air quality improvement and water quality improvement, Ledoux said.
He said this showed that Taiwanese are aware of global warming, but often underestimate its seriousness.
To help combat global warming, the EU and Taiwan have made joint efforts to establish reliable monitoring of carbon dioxide levels over the Pacific Ocean.
Ledoux said that China Airlines and the Evergreen Group last year agreed to participate in the European IAGOS (Integration of routine Aircraft measurements into a Global Observing System) initiative and the Pacific Greenhouse Gases Measurement project.
“In a few months, you will have China Airlines planes fitted with special equipment which will allow them to measure the amounts of carbon dioxide over the Pacific Ocean. Similar equipment will also be fitted on Evergreen ships crossing the Pacific Ocean,” he said.
The exhibition ends tomorrow, but will return from July 4 to July 8 before going on a five-college campus tour in October, the EETO said.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Many Japanese couples are coming to Taiwan to obtain donated sperm or eggs for fertility treatment due to conservatism in their home country, Taiwan’s high standards and low costs, doctors said. One in every six couples in Japan is receiving infertility treatment, Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare data show. About 70,000 children are born in Japan every year through in vitro fertilization (IVF), or about one in every 11 children born. Few people accept donated reproductive cells in Japan due to a lack of clear regulations, leaving treatment in a “gray zone,” Taichung Nuwa Fertility Center medical director Wang Huai-ling (王懷麟)
A pro-Russia hacker group has launched a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack on the Taiwanese government in retaliation for President William Lai’s (賴清德) comments suggesting that China should have a territorial dispute with Russia, an information security company said today. The hacker group, NoName057, recently launched an HTTPs flood attack called “DDoSia” targeting Taiwanese government and financial units, Radware told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). Local tax bureaus in New Taipei City, Keelung, Hsinchu and Taoyuan were mentioned by the hackers. Only the Hsinchu Local Tax Bureau site appeared to be down earlier in the day, but was back