The Deputy Mayor of New Taipei City, Liou, Her-Ran, represented Taiwan and participated as a member of the East Asia Regional Executive Committee, signing the “The ICLEI São Paulo Strategic Vision 2024–2030,” and shared experiences from “Sustainable New Taipei,” focusing on climate adaptation and net-zero resilience. Gino Van Begin, Secretary-General of ICLEI, alongside representatives from Seoul, Gyeonggi Province, Kyoto, and Changchun, commended New Taipei City for its proactive approach to climate change impacts.
As Liou attended the East Asia Regional Executive Committee meeting, presenting “Resilient Net-Zero: Sustainable New Taipei”.
“All the Members in Taiwan are actively participating in ICLEI’s initiatives and particularly focused on three areas, including “energy”, and showcase our experiences of systemic change as case studies to other ICLEI members, and by evaluating current policies and the risk caused by climate change, and considering the environmental sensitivity, New Taipei has released the“New Taipei City 2050 Net Zero Pathway and Climate Action White Paper” with adaptation mechanism.” Liou said.
Regarding natural disaster response, New Taipei City has integrated a single platform—the Emergency Data Platform (EDP) which with comprehensive information and provides disaster forecast, disaster early warning, and severity-based disaster management. The EDP platform is equipped with 14 (8 central and 6 local agencies) disaster prevention/relief databases , it aggregates 15,000 feeds of the live CCTV footages are translated into a visualized disaster map. New Taipei City is promoting disaster prevention works through the combined efforts of the government, businesses, and the public. With the joint efforts of all parties, there have been zero death from natural disasters for five years in a row.
“New Taipei City promulgated the first “Water Permeability and Water Conservation Self-Government Ordinance” in Taiwan in 2016. The regulation mandate that various types of development sites and new construction projects, including those of parks, roads, schools, and private buildings have to install water permeability and retention facilities to share the rainwater retention responsibility. As such, with effective peak flow reduction and flood detention,” Liou highlighted.
New Taipei City continues to implement subtractive engineering and water environment construction projects, so that the river can also be an ecological habitat to promote environmentally friendly functions. It’s is an important policy to improve city resilience.”
“We shall work together to turn the tide through action, make a difference for the planet, and every city belongs to everyone, and every citizen should be treated fairly! ” Liou emphasized.
During his participation in São Paulo, Brazil, Liou, Her-Ran engaged in discussions on city governance and climate action with representatives from various cities. He met with Irene Galindo Roman, Deputy Mayor of Los Cabos, Mexico, and ICLEI Global Executive Committee Member for Resilience Development. sharing New Taipei City’s local initiatives, including training programs for disaster prevention and promoting disaster-resilient communities to enhance local response capabilities.
Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI) held the ICLEI World Congress in São Paulo, Brazil, from June 18 to 21, 2024. the pledging to follow urban development commitments of sustainability, resilience, and cities for all.