The Green Citizens’ Action Alliance and other civic groups yesterday urged the government to show its resolve regarding reducing carbon emissions and propose meaningful and more robust policies to encourage industries to implement measures for achieving net zero by 2050.
Alliance deputy secretary-general Tseng Hung-wen (曾虹文) said only 118 of the nation’s 1,791 listed companies, less than 7 percent, had pledged to achieve net zero on the Financial Supervisory Commission’s platform promoting net zero.
Tseng added that the commission’s request to input information on its platform was not enforceable.
Photo: Chen Chia-yi, Taipei Times
Alliance researcher Chen Chen-yuan (陳震遠) said that the Environmental Protection Administration should order companies to conduct “carbon inspections” and demand that industries with a heavy output of carbon emissions make and announce plans on how they are to manage the production of greenhouse gases.
Chen said that the Financial Supervisory Commission should thoroughly review companies’ stated goals and data to gauge whether they are aligned with the government’s net zero goal.
He said that from the pledges made by companies regarding carbon reduction efforts, the government would be hard-pressed to realize its 2050 net zero goal.
Taiwan Climate Action Network researcher Lin Yi-chun (林怡均) said governments worldwide are demanding greater corporate transparency to see whether actual carbon reduction is taking place instead of companies “greenwashing.”
The government and local companies should be aware of this trend and make preparations to avoid being surprised, such as the adoption of global initiatives like the RE100 or the concept of a carbon tax, she said.
Environmental Rights Foundation researcher Sun Hsin-hsuan (孫興瑄) cited the EU’s discussion about implementing a Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive and said the government should establish appropriate supervisory systems to ensure that Taiwanese companies also exercise due diligence when making plans for climate change.
Climate Change Bureau Preparatory Office Deputy Director Huang Wei-ming (黃偉鳴) said that while there are no plans to demand that industries and companies make known their plans to deal with climate change, a draft act is being mulled to help the government keep tabs on how firms are reducing carbon emissions.
However, that discussion is ongoing as concerns were raised last month that the data required could involve trade secrets.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
RISING TOURISM: A survey showed that tourist visits increased by 35 percent last year, while newly created attractions contributed almost half of the growth Changhua County’s Lukang Old Street (鹿港老街) and its surrounding historical area clinched first place among Taiwan’s most successful tourist attractions last year, while no location in eastern Taiwan achieved a spot in the top 20 list, the Tourism Administration said. The listing was created by the Tourism Administration’s Forward-looking Tourism Policy Research office. Last year, the Lukang Old Street and its surrounding area had 17.3 million visitors, more than the 16 million visitors for the Wenhua Road Night Market (文化路夜市) in Chiayi City and 14.5 million visitors at Tainan’s Anping (安平) historical area, it said. The Taipei 101 skyscraper and its environs —
Taiwan on Friday said a New Zealand hamburger restaurant has apologized for a racist remark to a Taiwanese customer after reports that it had first apologized to China sparked outrage in Taiwan. An image posted on Threads by a Taiwanese who ate at Fergburger in Queenstown showed that their receipt dated Sunday last week included the words “Ching Chang,” a racial slur. The Chinese Consulate-General in Christchurch in a statement on Thursday said it had received and accepted an apology from the restaurant over the incident. The comment triggered an online furor among Taiwanese who saw it as an insult to the
RSS