Legislators, experts and climate advocates yesterday launched the “Climate Team Taiwan” initiative, calling for a comprehensive legal framework for climate governance and stronger nationwide dedication to a “sustainable future.”
The initiative was launched at a news conference at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei, featuring representatives of the legislature’s UN Sustainable Development Goals Advisory Council, the International Climate Development Institute and National Taiwan University’s Biodiversity Research Center.
In a report issued on Aug. 9, the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said that global temperatures are rising rapidly, institute executive director Camyale Chao (趙恭岳) said.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
By 2040, experts expect average surface temperatures to have risen by 1.5oC, with the most pessimistic estimates predicting a rise of 5.7oC by 2100, Chao quoted the report as saying.
The best outcomes are only possible if carbon emissions are reduced to net-zero by about 2050, he added.
Deputy Legislative Speaker Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌), who leads the council, urged swift and united action in instituting climate policies.
He urged the mainstreaming of climate concerns, saying that the issue should be deeply rooted in popular consciousness so that people associate their daily activity with its effects on the planet.
In the future, no individual will be able to face climate change alone, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) said.
This is where governments should step in, supporting society, industries and individuals by providing scientific information and making infrastructure more resilient to climate change, Hung said.
Comprehensive climate legislation is like a vaccine, with policies and laws generating antibodies to cope with the most extreme risks brought by climate change, he said.
In addition, ministries should work together so that everyone, from the upper levels of government down to each individual, can understand climate issues, he added.
Climate Team Taiwan aims to convey two sentiments: Everyone shares the same fate, and everyone has a role to play, DPP Legislator Su Chiao-hui (蘇巧慧) said.
Climate change is expected to affect everyone through water shortages, food pricing and other developments, she said.
Hopefully as people begin to feel the effects of climate change in their everyday lives, they would carry on the sentiments represented by Climate Team Taiwan, she added.
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