Net-zero emissions equivalent to 'moon-landing' mission: Minister

Taipei, Aug. 8 (CNA) Environment Minister Peng Chi-ming (彭啟明) on Thursday compared the government's stated goal to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 with the "moon-landing" mission, suggesting that Taiwan should "rethink" its strategy.

"I must say that [the bid to achieve] net-zero emissions by 2050 is like the moon-landing" in the 1960s, Peng said of the blueprint put forward by the government in 2022 at a press conference shortly after the National Climate Change Response Committee convened for the first time earlier in the day.

Describing such efforts as "extremely challenging," Peng suggested that the country should "rethink" its strategy about reducing carbon emissions.

Meanwhile, Xavier Chang (張惇涵), deputy secretary-general to the President, said the members of the committee had "constructive and comprehensive" discussions during the four-hour meeting.

The committee members agreed that Taiwan should actively develop renewable energy and that the government should establish a platform to disclose information on different energy sources, he said.

On nuclear policy, Chang cited President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) as saying in the discussions that to the government, "societal consensus" on how to ensure safety and deal with nuclear waste remains crucial.

Lai said that under that premise, the government was open to future atomic energy options.

In his opening remarks, Lai also said the energy issue has never been simple and binary and requires Taiwanese society to "confront problems with honesty" and "come up with practical solutions."

A "nuclear-free homeland" is not an ideological issue unique to the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Lai said before the committee convened.

He went on to add that phasing out nuclear power was already codified in the Basic Environment Act adopted by the Legislature in 2002, at a time when the DPP was a minority.

The National Climate Change Response Committee is one of the three committees that Lai established under the Presidential Office in June.

Lai himself presides over the ad-hoc group, with Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君), Academia Sinica President James C. Liao (廖俊智), and Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), chairman of Pegatron Corp., also sitting on the committee as deputy conveners.