Environmental NGOs form coalition to lobby new climate change committee

Taipei, Aug. 7 (CNA) Several environmental groups on Wednesday announced the formation of a coalition to lobby the National Climate Change Response Committee, which is set to hold its inaugural meeting Thursday.

The coalition, led by civil groups including the Taiwan Renewable Energy Alliance (TRENA), the Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association, and the Taiwan Citizen Participation Association (TCPA), said its establishment had been driven by fears that industry might obscure the government's climate policy.

The National Climate Change Response Committee is one of the three committees, along with the Whole-of-Society Defense Resilience Committee and the Healthy Taiwan Promotion Committee, under the aegis of the Presidential Office announced by President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) in June.

TCPA chairman Ho Tsung-hsun (何宗勳), who is also a member of the National Climate Change Response Committee, told a news conference in Taipei that he would "bring the opinions of the groups to the Presidential Office."

"I hope [via this committee] led by the president of Taiwan can be a role model in tackling climate challenges," Ho added.

TRENA head Kao Ru-ping (高如萍) said that with the increasingly prominent role of Taiwan and its semiconductor industry in the artificial intelligence (AI) era "the government should also step up the oversight over these major companies' use of power and urge for their higher renewable power use."

According to Ho, the committee's first meeting is to focus on two topics: the impact of climate change on the world and Taiwan, and the challenge of Taiwan's power supply and demand.

On electricity in particular, Ho said he expects the government to put more effort into energy saving and promote diverse renewable energy sources even while stressing the rise of power demand.

Amid recent calls for an expansion of nuclear power in Taiwan, Ho said that, in a democratic society, "any public policy has to be discussed with public participation," including where to place the nuclear waste.

"A committee member has voiced support for nuclear; he should, however, first propose solutions for waste placement and persuade the localities that have been chosen to be possible locations for nuclear waste storage but spurned the decision," Ho stressed.

Ho was referring to Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), chairman of Pegatron Corp. and deputy convener of the committee, who has recently been outspoken about his support for nuclear power as a stable source of electricity and a way to meet the climate change challenge.

Kinmen's Wuqiu and Taitung's Daren were once recommended by Taipower as potential waste storage sites, however, local governments in both declined to hold referendums, which are required.

Other groups have urged for environmental justice for climate disaster victims and turning the retiring Hsieh-ho heavy oil-fired plant in Keelung into a renewable energy park, rather than the gas-fired plant as currently planned.