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Your letters: Taiwan's participation in UNFCCC
Re: âRI calls for action in COP21â (Nov
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e: 'RI calls for action in COP21' (Nov. 17, 2015), p1
While President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo urges developed countries to take a stronger role in reducing carbon emissions, Taiwan can only participate in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) as an NGO observer under the name of the Industrial Technology Research Institute. Jokowi's attendance at the upcoming COP21 summit in Paris at the end of this month indicates Indonesia's firm commitment to addressing global warming.
However, actions by Southeast Asian countries are more important than mere commitments to tackle complex and trans-border environmental issues such as forest fires and haze.
In this regard, there are at least three reasons why Indonesia should support Taiwan's participation in the UNFCCC. First, Taiwan's capabilities and expertise can be a part of the global solution to climate change. Taiwan is known for its expertise in green technology and Taiwan is actively exporting these technologies to other countries. Taiwan has much to offer the region, not just in terms of technology sharing and transfer, but also in financial support and capacity building.
Second, over the decades, Taiwan has undertaken numerous cooperative projects alongside many developing countries in a wide variety of areas relating to climate change.
These include food and energy security, renewable energy, natural disaster management, post-disaster reconstruction, reforestation, environmental protection, water resource management and drought relief. Supporting Taiwan's inclusion in COP21 as an observer under the name of its environmental protection administration is in line with the purpose of the UNFCCC and the universality of the UN Charter.
Taiwan's meaningful participation in the UNFCCC would conform to the purpose and spirit of the Convention, which acknowledges that 'the global nature of climate change calls for the widest possible cooperation'. This sentiment echoes President Widodo's call for developed countries to act as role models in reducing carbon emissions.
Ismail Mae
Director of Press Information Division
Taipei Economic and Trade Office in Indonesia
Jakarta
