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The Republic of China (Taiwan) Seeks Meaningful Participation in the UNFCCC 2013.09.26 The challenges posed by climate change have continued to grow during the past decade. As no country will be immune to the impact of global warming, it is of extreme importance that we address these challenges in a global manner to ensure our planet’s sustainable development. Although the Republic of China (Taiwan) has been excluded from the UNFCCC and its related mechanisms, it remains keen to join international efforts aimed at saving energy and reducing carbon emissions. As a responsible member of the international community, Taiwan is committed to contributing to the fight against climate change, and is one of the few countries to have voluntarily announced reduction targets for carbon dioxide emissions. Taiwan is determined to reduce carbon dioxide emissions According to the 2012 Key World Energy Statistics released by the International Energy Agency (IEA), Taiwan’s carbon dioxide emissions amounted to 270.22 million tons in 2010, making it the world’s 20th largest emitter with 0.89% of the total. Taiwan also ranks as the 20 th largest emitter per capita, at 11.66 metric tons. It aims to bring national carbon dioxide emissions from fuel combustion back to 2005 levels by 2020, and to 2000 levels by 2025, in line with global trends in this field. In addition, Taiwan has been striving to improve energy efficiency by 1 more than 2% per year in the period 2008-2015, so as to reduce energy intensity by more than 20% by 2015 compared to 2005 levels, and by 50% by 2050. Moreover, Taiwan has decided to reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by at least 30% relative to the business-as-usual (BAU) benchmark by 2020. This scale of reduction is much higher than that of countries with similarly sized economies and higher than the 15%-30% reduction target by 2020 based on BAU for developing countries proposed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). In fact, the aforementioned efforts are beginning to pay off. Earlier this year, the Bureau of Energy of the Ministry of Economic Affairs released data showing that Taiwan’s carbon dioxide emissions were 248.7 million tons in 2012, a reduction of 1.9% compared to 2011, moving closer to the 2005 level of 245.2 million tons. Taiwan aims to create a green environment Taiwan continues to play an important role in terms of reducing carbon emissions by making effective use of its advantages in high-tech and design. Taiwan has made significant headway in upgrading its solar and wind power capacity. Currently, Taiwan is the world’s largest LED manufacturer and the second largest solar cell producer. It is also the world’s eighth largest manufacturer of 2MW wind turbine generators. In 2012 alone, the total investment in green industries in Taiwan was around US$1.44 billion. Total output exceeded US$12.5 billion, creating 65,100 job opportunities. 2 In addition, Taiwan has designed a series of clean energy projects for Solomon Islands, the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu, Nauru, Palau, Kiribati, and Papua New Guinea. These projects include distribution of solar street lighting systems and installation of solar PV systems. Taiwan’s current participation in the UNFCCC Direct and regular access to meetings and activities of the UNFCCC would enable Taiwan to better deal with the impact of climate change. However, in light of the realities of Taiwan’s unique political status, Taiwan has until now been represented by the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) as an observer in sessions of the Conference of the Parties (COP). As an observer, delegates from Taiwan have only limited access to COP events. ITRI has been holding side events at COP sessions since 2010, so as to demonstrate Taiwan’s determination to join global efforts to combat climate change. However, Taiwan can only enhance its contributions if it is able to participate in COP and the UNFCCC in a more comprehensive manner. Taiwan Continues to Receive International Support Since 2009, Taiwan has garnered support from various parliamentary bodies for its meaningful participation in the UNFCCC. These include the European Parliament, the Central American Parliament (PARLACEN), the Association of Pacific Island Legislatures (APIL), the US Midwestern Legislative Conference (MLC) of the Council of State Governments, the Asian-Pacific Parliamentarians’ Union (APPU), the Council of State Governments/Eastern Regional Conference (CSG/ERC), the National 3 Congress of Belgium, the Senate of the Republic of Colombia, the National Assembly of Panama and 23 US state legislatures (including state-level senates and houses of representatives). In 2012, 10 allies voiced support for Taiwan’s meaningful participation in the UNFCCC at the high-level segment of COP18. Furthermore, 15 allies wrote to UNFCCC Executive Secretary Ms. Christiana Figueres in support of Taiwan. Taiwan is ready to participate in the UNFCCC as an observer Since May 2009, Taiwan’s Ministry of Health and Welfare has been invited to attend the World Health Assembly (WHA) as an observer under the designation “Chinese Taipei.” Meanwhile, on September 11 this year, the President of the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) officially invited the ROC’s Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) to attend the 38th Session of the Assembly of ICAO as his guest under the name “Chinese Taipei.” Since global warming has become one of the major threats to human development, there can be no gaps in global efforts to combat climate change. With its technological know-how and experience, Taiwan can be an important partner. Therefore, Taiwan strongly urges the international community to support its participation in the UNFCCC by granting the ROC’s Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) observer status in COP. Conclusion 4 By looking at past examples, as well as the efforts we have made in assisting our allies in fighting climate change, we firmly believe that we are well-qualified to participate in the UNFCCC as an observer, and we seek your support for Taiwan’s inclusion. 5