Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) Minister Lee Ying-yuan (李應元) yesterday delivered Taiwan’s first Voluntary National Review of its efforts toward contributing to the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at a seminar in New York.
Titled A Sustainable Planet for All: Implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, Lee’s talk discussed Taiwan’s strategy to achieve the agenda’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 sub-goals, and how it would localize the goals in response to the nation’s specific problems.
“Taiwan’s performance on many goals is better than many European countries and the US,” Lee said, referring to Taiwan’s health insurance, universal education and women’s political participation.
Photo: CNA
However, a more urgent task for the nation is to prepare for extreme climate changes in line with the “climate action” SDG, he said.
According to the Greenhouse Gas Reduction and Management Act (溫室氣體減量及管理法) promulgated in 2015, the nation’s carbon dioxide emissions in 2050 should be reduced to half of the 2005 volume, which was about 245 million tonnes.
To achieve the long-term goal, the government is to speed up to undertake short-term action, he said, adding that Taiwan has also tightened regulations on certain plastic products.
From January next year, the nation is to prohibit the production of cosmetics that contain small plastic particles, while fewer stores will be allowed to offer free plastic bags to customers, he said.
Lee also told the audience about Taiwanese entrepreneur Clement Hung (洪慶齡), founder of Green Group, who established a “massive” recycling system for plastic waste in Romania, and about Miniwiz cofounder Arthur Huang (黃謙智), whose company successfully converted plastic bottles into building materials for “green” structures.
The seminar was cohosted by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in New York, the International Sustainable Development Foundation, the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University, the Permanent Mission of Solomon Islands to the UN, the Global Island Partnership and the Academic Council on the United Nations System.
Lee’s presentation, which was attended by about 150 people, including delegates of the nation’s diplomatic allies, is part of Taiwan’s ongoing push for greater participation in UN-related organizations.
Lee is slated to attend another forum on SDGs at the TECO in New York today.
An undersea cable to Penghu County has been severed, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said today, with a Chinese-funded ship suspected of being responsible. It comes just a month after a Chinese ship was suspected of severing an undersea cable north of Keelung Harbor. The National Communications and Cyber Security Center received a report at 3:03am today from Chunghwa Telecom that the No. 3 cable from Taiwan to Penghu was severed 14.7km off the coast of Tainan, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) upon receiving a report from Chunghwa Telecom began to monitor the Togolese-flagged Hong Tai (宏泰)
EVA Air is prohibiting the use of portable chargers on board all flights starting from Saturday, while China Airlines is advising passengers not to use them, following the lead of South Korean airlines. Current regulations prohibit portable chargers and lithium batteries from check-in luggage and require them to be properly packed in carry-on baggage, EVA Air said. To improve onboard safety, portable chargers and spare lithium batteries would be prohibited from use on all fights starting on Saturday, it said. Passengers are advised to fully charge electronic devices before boarding and use the AC and USB charging outlets at their seat, it said. South
Hong Kong-based American singer-songwriter Khalil Fong (方大同) has passed away at the age of 41, Fong’s record label confirmed yesterday. “With unwavering optimism in the face of a relentless illness for five years, Khalil Fong gently and gracefully bid farewell to this world on the morning of February 21, 2025, stepping into the next realm of existence to carry forward his purpose and dreams,” Fu Music wrote on the company’s official Facebook page. “The music and graphic novels he gifted to the world remain an eternal testament to his luminous spirit, a timeless treasure for generations to come,” it said. Although Fong’s
WAR SIMULATION: The developers of the board game ‘2045’ consulted experts and analysts, and made maps based on real-life Chinese People’s Liberation Army exercises To stop invading Chinese forces seizing Taiwan, board gamer Ruth Zhong chooses the nuclear option: Dropping an atomic bomb on Taipei to secure the nation’s freedom and her victory. The Taiwanese board game 2045 is a zero-sum contest of military strategy and individual self-interest that puts players on the front lines of a simulated Chinese attack. Their battlefield game tactics would determine the theoretical future of Taiwan, which in the real world faces the constant threat of a Chinese invasion. “The most interesting part of this game is that you have to make continuous decisions based on the evolving situation,
RSS