Environmental group Citizen of the Earth, Taiwan (CET) at a news conference in Taipei yesterday urged the government to place more emphasis on tackling climate change in its Forward-looking Infrastructure Development Program.
The news conference was held to coincide with Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) delivering a report to the Legislative Yuan on the proposed NT$230 billion (US$7.94 billion) budget for the third phase of the program.
Launched by the government in 2017, the program is focused on eight areas: railways; water environments; green energy; digital technology; urban and rural development; childcare services; food safety; and human resources.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
Calling the program the government’s “most important project,” CET said that its stated objective is to “respond to climate change, promote the transformation of Taiwan’s economy, energy and transportation, and improve the people’s quality of life.”
“Climate change has intensified and will be Taiwan’s most important task in the next 30 years,” CET said. “However, in the special budget for the third phase, related plans and content are still rarely seen.”
Many plans in the program “not only do not achieve the effect of carbon reduction, but also contribute to carbon emissions,” the group said.
Among the items budgeted under rural and urban development is approximately NT$9.6 billion on parking lots and about NT$10 billion on road-related projects, CET deputy secretary-general Tsai Chung-yueh (蔡中岳) said.
“By making transportation on the ground more convenient, we are encouraging everyone to continue using private vehicles,” Tsai said.
He said that the government should instead introduce more management measures to reduce carbon emissions in transportation.
Tsai Chia-shen (蔡佳昇), a campaigner at the group’s Taipei office, said that the need for energy transition in Taiwan is “urgent.”
However, the Executive Yuan’s proposal for the third phase of the program allocates “just 3 percent” — about NT$7.8 billion — of the budget to “green energy” initiatives, he said, calling it a “very low” proportion.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) and New Power Party Legislator Chen Jiau-hua (陳椒華), who also attended the news conference, joined with CET members in chanting the slogan: “Forward-looking. Don’t waste money. Face climate change.”
The budget proposal is next to proceed to a review by the Legislative Yuan, Hung said.
“We hope that there is still room to make this forward-looking program even more forward-looking,” he said.
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