By Embassy of the Republic of China (Taiwan)
CASTRIES, St Lucia – The Republic of China (Taiwan) has reaffirmed its support for the Caribbean Nationally Determined Contribution Finance Initiative (NDCFI).
Taiwan’s continued commitment to the Caribbean NDCFI came on Tuesday, July 5, 2022, during the opening of the second Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) Investment Forum convened by the government of Saint Lucia and Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS).
The second NDC Investment Forum was held from July 5-7, 2022, at Harbor Club Hotel, in Gros Islet, Saint Lucia, under the theme, “From the Frontline to the Future: Uniting the Caribbean for Bold Climate Action”, and highlighted issues and solutions related to decarbonising the Eastern Caribbean, via exploring ambition and opportunity through cooperation and support.
In September 2018, Taiwan assisted the department of sustainable development in hosting the first-ever Regional NDC Investment Forum held in October that year. In April 2022, Taiwan contributed EC$30,000.00 to the NDCFI towards hosting this year’s investment forum.
During his remarks at the Opening Plenary and Panel Discussion on July 5, 2022, H.E. Peter Chia-yen Chen, Taiwan’s Ambassador to Saint Lucia, said Taiwan was pleased to assist yet again in hosting the important investment forum. However, he noted that more needs to be done to decarbonise the Eastern Caribbean and build resilience to the impacts of climate change, adding that Taiwan has been making some bold strides.
“Taiwan, as a NDC partner, is very willing to mobilise more resources to assist the effort,” Ambassador Chen said. “This March, the government of Taiwan unveiled its roadmap to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, joining another 136 countries in the world to pursue the goal of limiting global temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius.”
Ambassador Chen added: “The proposal in the roadmap includes making renewable energy account for 60-70% of Taiwan’s electricity supply by 2050, developing carbon capture, utilisation and storage technology, reviewing laws and regulations, promoting decarbonised transportation, electric vehicles and green buildings. Taiwan regards attaining net-zero and mitigating climate crisis as our collective and generational responsibility while joining the world.”
Acting prime minister, Dr Ernest Hilaire, who spoke on behalf of prime minister, Philip J. Pierre, said the gathering of key stakeholders at the investment forum symbolised the acknowledgement that there is strength in numbers. He noted that as the region continues to experience economic contractions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change must remain a priority.
“At this juncture, as we continue our recovery efforts from the pandemic, notwithstanding that the global economy continues to restrict our progress, we must seize the opportunity to design strategic and high-impact resilience measures to further recover from the severe loss, including the job losses we have all suffered. Herein lies the opportunity for us to truly pursue a green recovery pathway for long-term sustainable growth with resilience to climate change.”
Shawn Edward, minister for education, sustainable development, innovation, science, technology and vocational training, encouraged all stakeholders to continue playing their respective roles to achieve the goal of mitigating climate change.
“Let us ensure that we continue to play our part”, Edward said. “We as small island developing states must continue to fight boldly and persevere together amidst the threats of climate change,” he added.
Meanwhile, Dr Didacus Jules, director-general of the OECS, said despite the harsher realities that the science is showing mankind faces in the future with respect to climate change, a proactive approach becomes necessary.
“It is the contemplation of such a future that has galvanized the governments and people of the Region to action to pursue an alternative future; a future founded not on fatalism, but on resolve and collective action, and a belief that, along with a truly willing international community, we can turn the tide against climate change.”
As an open regional platform for climate action, the NDCFI invites active engagement and contributions from interested countries, development partners, development banks and private sector stakeholders for the delivery of:
- Regional cross-sector and multi-partite stakeholder consultations, engagement, and exchange processes that support ambitions for climate leadership in the Caribbean and catalyse investments in resilient and low-carbon infrastructure across priority sectors as identified by OECS Member States;
- Learning and supporting opportunities that address hurdles in the development of investment projects in key sectors, and;
- Learning and supporting opportunities that improve access to public and private climate finance.
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