The Executive Yuan yesterday approved an NT$41.16 billion (US$1.27 billion) climate resilience plan, including 48 new policies to be implemented through 2026 mainly aimed at mitigating the impact of extreme weather.
Cabinet spokesman Lin Tze-luen (林子倫) made the announcement at a news conference after an Executive Yuan meeting.
The plan is a continuation of the 2013 climate response program, and its implementation would emphasize coordination between national and local governments, whole-of-society participation and public education, he cited Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) as saying.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Environment
New policies included in the plan would establish desalination plants in Hsinchu and Tainan, install 17 pipelines to back up the water distribution system and increase water reserve capacity to 50 percent from 28 percent by 2026, Ministry of Environment Climate Change Office Director Tsai Ling-yi (蔡玲儀) said.
The plan additionally includes measures to ensure the nation’s transportation and communications remain operational in extreme weather, mitigate the climate’s impact on inhabited areas, energy resilience and security, and counter heat island effects, Tsai said.
Agricultural policy would be adjusted to survive global warming with the development of climate-proofed cultivars being part of the adjustment, she said.
Taiwan’s average temperature has risen almost perenially over the past 50 years, while the number of arid years between 1961 and 2020 was significantly higher than the pre-1960 period, the Ministry of Environment said separately in a statement.
The average strength and frequency of torrential rain also increased, it added.
In response, the Executive Yuan two weeks ago completed a resilience plan targeting infrastructure, water, energy, maritime resources, land use, agriculture, economy, biodiversity and healthcare, the ministry said.
The plan involved 16 ministries and ministry-level agencies that utilized the latest domestic and foreign scientific literature, it said, adding that the program’s mandate stemmed from the Climate Change Response Act (氣候變遷因應法).
Inter-ministerial cooperation, continued public support and cooperation from enterprises are required for the government to effectively address the challenges of climate change, it said.
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