TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taipei City marked Earth Day Thursday (April 22) by setting 2050 as its target for net zero emissions.

The move symbolized the Taiwanese capital’s determination to shoulder its responsibility as a citizen of the global community and cut carbon emissions, Taipei City Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said.

Taipei will take the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for 2030 as its base to transform the city as it faces the threat of climate change. The use of recycled materials, electric vehicles, smart and zero-carbon buildings, and investment in innovative businesses will form part of the capital’s long-term emission reduction policies.

After the passage of the Paris Agreement in 2015, the Special Report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 2018 showed that in order to limit the average temperature rise to 1.5 degree Celsius, the whole world needed to reach net zero emissions by 2050, Taipei City’s Department of Environmental Protection said.

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