| 英文摘要 |
As the Paris Agreement unexpectedly came into effect, the 23rd Session of the Conference of Parties (COP23) to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has embarked on its implementation. Nevertheless, the withdrawl of the United States from the Paris Agreement still cast doubts over the process. To discuss the progress of COP23 and impacts it may have on global climate change governance, the Policy and Law Center for Environmental Sustainability (PLES Center) of National Taiwan University College of Law held a seminar with invited speakers including scholars, experts and the members of Taiwan Youth Climate Alliance.
According to the reflections and discussions made in the seminar, the main progress of COP23 includes the following. First, the contents and requirements of the Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) in the Paris Agreement were discussed and a transparent mechanism established. Second, the Talanoa dialogue mechanism was created to enable participants to have open and genuine conversations before any formal meetings or resolutions reached. Next was the focus on human rights issues, especially on the participation of women and indigenous peoples. As for the finance, the discussions were on how to balance the expenses between mitigation and adaption and to increase capitals from private sectors. In the perspective of global climate change governance, attention has been on the acceleration of energy transition, carbon pricing, and with the dismantling of nation states, the increasingly important roles played by private sectors such as cities, business, and nongovernmental organizations. All in all, the COP23 was rather technical and transitional in nature due to its main missions in implementing Paris Agreement.
While global climate actions seem stagnant at present, they are in the process of preparing the implementation of Paris Agreement. Taiwan has not fared well in climate change governance, but there has been progress such as greenhouse gases regulation and the initiatives of urban planning and land-use hearings. It is our hope that further progress in both global and local climate change governance will be seen in the next COP24 as well as in Taiwan’s climate actions. |
