Taiwan promotes green architecture achievements at forum in Israel

Tel Aviv, Aug. 13 (CNA) Taiwan's representative to Israel Abby Lee (李雅萍) presented Taiwan's policies and achievements in green architecture to Israeli officials and NGOs at a forum Monday.

More than 30 architects, engineers and city planners attended the forum on sustainable development held in Modi'in-Maccabim-Re'ut, a city in central Israel.

The forum was jointly organized by non-profit organizations including the Israel Green Building Council and the Israeli Association of Municipal Engineers.

Speaking at the forum Lee talked about Taiwan's experiences and policies relating to environmental protection, green architecture and earthquake resistance and about Taiwan's cooperation with Israel on environmental issues.

Taiwan and Israel signed a memorandum of understanding on environmental protection cooperation in 2013, and dialogue and exchanges between the two sides on environmental issues have been "institutionalized" over the years, she said.

"Taiwan and Israel are small countries in a sense but we have demonstrated to the world our dedication for a greener, more sustainable and resilient future and rolling out an ambitious path to net-zero emission by 2050," the Taiwanese diplomat told the forum.

"I would like to welcome visionary city leaders from all local authorities of the state of Israel to visit Taiwan to strengthen city to city exchanges and our partnership on environmental issue," she said.

A group made up of members from organizations including the Israel Green Building Council and Israeli Association of Municipal Engineers are planning to visit Taiwan in September to learn more about Taiwan's efforts in sustainable planning.

During the trip, the group from Israel is expected to visit green building projects and engage in discussions with public agencies and private companies in Taiwan.

In March, Taiwan published its "Pathway to Net-Zero Emissions in 2050" strategy, which outlines the country's methods and key milestones for achieving a net-zero economy, according to the National Development Council.

In terms of sustainable architecture, the strategy's policy document included the milestone that "new public buildings are energy efficiency class 1 or nearly zero-emission" by 2030.

"100 percent of new buildings and over 85 percent of existing buildings" should be "nearly zero-emission" by 2050, according to the strategy.