Taiwan's biggest delegation to COP28 showcases its commitment: Minister

Taipei, Dec. 14 (CNA) Taiwan's minister of environment said on Thursday that the country sent more attendees to COP28 than any previous iteration of the event, showcasing its commitment to combat climate change, while reiterating that a resolution to expand nuclear energy capacity was endorsed by a number of attending countries and not the conference as a whole.

The Legislative Yuan's Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee on Thursday convened a hearing on Taiwan's participation at the 28th Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28), which ended Wednesday.

Minister of Environment Shieu Fuh-sheng (薛富盛) reported to the committee that this year's climate conference had a record number of more than 90,000 registered attendees, with the number from Taiwan also the largest ever -- without specifying a number. Participants included representatives from NGOs, academia, industry, government ministries, and the Legislative Yuan.

As Taiwan is not a U.N. member, the government has always attended the convention, a U.N. climate summit, jointly with non-official institutions from the country.

"A total of 46 bilateral meetings were held between [Taiwan's delegation] and 35 diplomatic allies and like-minded countries and two international organizations," the minister noted, adding that the number of attending government officials was also probably a record.

The minister told the committee that the final agreement made at the climate summit chose to use the phrase "transition away" from fossil fuels rather than "phase down" or "phase out" as proposed by many countries, which was seen as a compromise.

A "loss and damage fund" which aims to provide financial assistance to those countries most impacted by climate change was created and garnered pledges from many countries totaling more than US$700 million, Shieu said.

If Taiwan is invited to join the summit, Taiwan is also willing to make pledges to the fund, the minister stressed.

He cited the example of the recent "Just Transition Fund" set up by Taiwan and four diplomatic allies -- Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau and Tuvalu -- in July, with Taiwan promising US$10 million to help the four island nations combat climate change.

Responding to legislators' inquiries about a declaration on tripling nuclear energy capacity by 2050 made by certain countries at COP28, the minister stressed that the declaration was not an agreement reached by the summit but a declaration made by 22 countries "that have mature nuclear use and industry."

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, representing one of the declaration endorsing countries, "the core elements of the declaration include working together to advance a goal of tripling nuclear energy capacity globally by 2050 and inviting shareholders of international financial institutions to encourage the inclusion of nuclear energy in energy lending policies."

Other major endorsing countries include Canada, France, Japan, South Korea, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the host of this year's conference United Arab Emirates.

Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Su Chiao-hui (蘇巧慧) said the use of nuclear energy in Taiwan, as Shieu said when the declaration was first made public, has to be based on three foundations -- nuclear power plant safety, safe waste storage and management, and social consensus.

"As nuclear waste still poses a major problem in the country, talk of nuclear power is a pseudo issue," Su said, reiterating what Shieu said last week.

However, Taiwan's People Party vice presidential candidate Wu Hsin-ying (吳欣盈) argued that as Taiwan is an island nation it is "not pragmatic" to exclude nuclear power as a possible source of electricity.

A member of Taiwan's legislative delegation to COP28, Wu said in private exchanges with other European parliamentarians, she was told that Luxembourg does not support nuclear power "but purchases electricity generated by nuclear energy from its neighbor Belgium."

A country not endorsing the declaration does not mean it is not using nuclear energy, she said, noting that there is much more for Taiwan to think about as an island country.