Taiwan has set admirable goals for cleaning up soil and groundwater pollution. But are overly rigorous standards actually inhibiting site remediation? The CPC Corporation’s massive Kaohsiung refinery complex ceased operations in December 2015 as promised by the state-owned oil company in 1990 (when it was known as the Chinese Petroleum Corp.). Then Premier Hau Pei-tsun…
Taiwan’s government has ambitious goals for dramatically reducing its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in line with global standards. Although Taiwan is not a member of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and did not sign the Paris Accord, Taiwan has nevertheless developed its own plan to dramatically reduce its carbon footprint in…
The Taiwan government is implementing a number of plans aimed at further improving air quality. “When the weather gets cold, the issue of air pollution heats up,” says Tsai Hung-teh, director general of the Environmental Protection Administration’s Department of Air Quality Protection and Noise Control. During the winter months, he notes, the air quality in…
Recently Taiwan Business TOPICS magazine sat down with Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) Minister Lee Ying-yuan to discuss the state of Taiwan’s environmental health. Below is an edited transcript of that conversation, supplemented with written replies from the EPA. What do you consider to be the biggest environmental challenges that Taiwan is currently facing? For…
The recent death of filmmaker Chi Bo-lin focused renewed attention on the ecological consequences of cement production in Taiwan. The death of celebrated documentary filmmaker Chi Bo-lin, who was killed in a helicopter crash on June 10 while filming his latest movie, ignited a firestorm over the use of land resources in Taiwan. Chi won…
Among Taiwanese scooter brands, the relative newcomer Gogoro is an anomaly. Unlike such major scooter makers as Kymco and SYM, Gogoro did not begin as an OEM or ODM producer. If that suggests the company may lack the manufacturing acumen of some of its competitors, it also means that Gogoro may have an easier time…
Taiwan is home to a broad variety of species, some of them unique to the island. But development puts many at constant risk. Since the go-go era of the 1980s and 1990s when environmental protection was ignored in favor of economic development, Taiwan has improved its performance in protecting its environment and biodiversity. Waste disposal…
Helping consumers identify products that truly promote environmental sustainability. Each year during the dry season that typically runs from late June through October, countries throughout this region are affected by an air-pollution crisis that has come to be known as the Southeast Asian haze. Intense forest fires, caused by illegal slash-and-burn farming practices and annually…
Leading climatologists have issued a dire warning: runaway global warming could occur if the world doesn’t rein in its carbon dioxide emissions. Yet there is reason for optimism – despite the tremendous difficulties entailed in reducing emissions – that humanity will come up with new technologies that will eventually save the day. “We are…
Even more than in many parts of the world, the climate in Taiwan is changing, bringing greater chances of extreme weather conditions. Will Taiwan be ready? Taiwan has been experiencing a steady trend of warmer winters, hotter summers, fewer but more torrential rains, and more frequent droughts, according to a 2011 government report. The Taiwan…
