Workshop on climate change's ocean impacts concludes in Kaohsiung

Taipei, Oct. 3 (CNA) A two-day international workshop held in the southern city of Kaohsiung in Taiwan to study the impacts of climate change on oceans concluded on Wednesday.

The "International Workshop on Impacts of Climate Change on the Ocean" held under the Global Cooperation and Training Framework (GCTF) was attended by 161 participants including officials and experts from 22 countries, according to Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) and the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) in two separate press releases.

Participants from the United States, Japan, Australia, Canada, France, the Philippines, Israel, New Zealand, Taiwan and other countries shared the "best practices on a wide array of topics, including ocean health monitoring, disaster risk assessment and sustainable blue economy practices," the AIT press release said.

Other workshop topics included "innovative monitoring technologies, disaster response strategies and the development of legal frameworks to support international cooperation in ocean protection," it added.

Founded by Taiwan and the U.S. in 2015, GCTF describes itself as "a capacity building platform for Taiwan to share its expertise in tackling issues of global concern" in the context of China blocking the country from participating in many international organizations.

Currently, the GCTF has five full partners: AIT, MOFA, the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association (JTEA), the Australian Office Taipei (AO), and the Canadian Trade Office in Taipei (CTOT).

AIT, JTEA, AO, and CTOT represent their respective countries' interests in Taiwan in the absence of official diplomatic ties.