Friday, May 21, 2010

Luxembourg Green Party supports Taiwan's UNFCCC participation

Taipei, May 21 (CNA) Visiting parliamentarians from the Luxembourg Green Party voiced their support Friday for Taiwan's participation in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) as a country and also urged Taiwan to follow the European course of green development.

They also called for Taiwan to restore a de facto moratorium on the death penalty after four death row inmates were executed April 30.

The Green Party is in favor of Taiwan's participation in the UNFCCC because climate-related issues are global ones and Taiwan, as a well-developed country like Luxembourg, has to be responsible for its high carbon emissions, said Felix Braz, vice president of the party's parliamentary caucus.

As for which name Taiwan will use for its participation in the UNFCCC, Braz said that is a question for Taiwan to answer itself because of the sensitivity of the issue.

Pan Han-sheng, co-convener of Taiwan's Green Party, and Robin Winkler, chairman of the Taiwan Friends of the Global Greens, expressed appreciation for the support and said Taiwan's participation in international organizations is needed so that the government can leverage international pressure to deal with local corporations.

Taiwan has to be part of the global solution to climate change, Braz said, especially because it has become known for its expertise in the development of environmentally friendly technology and has been active in exporting such technology to other countries in recent years.

By following this course, he said, Taiwan will be able to play an active role in the global fight against climate change.

The party also encourages Taiwan to follow the European course of green development and green policies that could benefit the country in many ways, such as creating jobs, Braz said.

For example, he went on, Germany has created 1 million jobs in sectors related to environmentally friendly technology.

He urged Taiwan to reduce its energy consumption and its reliance on imported energy resources, and to focus on energy efficiency. At the same time, he emphasized that nuclear energy is both backward and expensive and noted that he expressed these points of view in a meeting with Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) Minister Stephen Shen.

In terms of the death penalty, Braz said his party maintains the position that "a state should not be granted the right by the people to kill other people, " but he added that the issue should not be linked to Shengen area visa-waiver privileges for Taiwanese.

The proposal has not been submitted by the European Commission to the European Parliament for discussion yet, he said, adding that while there has been speculation that the proposal was stalled because of Taiwan's executions in April and subsequent condemnation issued by the European Union (EU), this is not the reality of the situation.

The Luxembourg Green Party was established in 1983 and currently holds seven seats in the 60-member parliament. The party is a member of the European Greens, which is the fourth-largest political party in the European Parliament.

The party's support for Taiwan's UNFCCC bid was in line with a resolution passed by the European Parliament in March to support the country's participation in the international organization as an observer, as well as the International Civil Aviation Organization. (By Chris Wang) ENDITEM/J