Taipei, March 17 (CNA) Taiwan is pushing forward with efforts to combat climate change and is keen to help its African allies cope with the challenge, Taiwan's government officials and scholars said Wednesday at an international meeting.
Despite the fact that Taiwan is not a member of the United Nations Framework Convention of Climate Change (UNFCCC) , it will abide by the non-binding results of the Copenhagen Accord, said Stephen Shu-hung Shen, minister of the Environmental Protection Administration, in the "Taiwan and Africa Environmental Leaders Meeting." Taiwan, which is estimated to account for one percent of global carbon dioxide emissions, is taking a series of actions to mitigate the impacts of climate change, Shen told the meeting.
Taiwan's government has announced a Guidelines for Sustainable Energy Policy in 2008 and has been engaged in enactment of four energy-related laws, including: the GHG (Green House Gas) Reduction Law, the Act for Renewable Energy, the Act for Energy Tax, and the Energy Management Act, Shen said.
President Ma Ying-jeou has also vowed to make the year 2010 a year of "conserving energy and reducing carbon emissions, " Shen noted.
Ma has also pledged to cut Taiwan's emissions to 2005 levels by 2020 and reduce emissions by 50 percent before 2010, Shen said.
While Taiwan has a tough task ahead in cutting its own emissions, it is able to help African countries on the issue with its expertise, Shen and academics said at the one-day meeting that gathered environmental officials from Taiwan's allies in the African continent, including Burkina Faso, the Gambia, Sao Tome and Principe and Swaziland.
Shen said Taiwan would like to cooperate with its African allies in knowledge-sharing and promotion of the green energy industry.
Despite the differences between Taiwan and Africa, Taiwan can offer Africa help in education and health investments, as well as developing land-use management, river management and an early-warning system, said Young Chea-yuan, a professor at Chinese Culture University's Department of Natural Resources.
It can also help African nations improve their response capability through the nature conservation systems and develop social networks for protecting the poor from natural disasters, Young said.
Africa is the most fragile continent where agriculture production and food safety are at high risks from global warming, Robert Dixon, leader of the climate change and chemicals investment at Global Environment Facility (GEF) , told the meeting. Climate change will also aggravate water stress in the continent, he added.
Delegates from non-ally African nations, including South Africa, Kenya, Libya and Nigeria, also attended the meeting. (By Chris Wang) enditem/cs