Climate Change caused by human activities has posted great threats to living conditions in extensive regions, affecting multiple dimensions such as ecosystem, health, energy supply, economic development, infrastructure, and so on. People with marginalized socioeconomic status or having less access to resources are particularly vulnerable to changes. To tackle climate change and its impacts, we need both global solidarity and local strategies.

 

The year 2015 is especially pivotal for global negotiation on climate change. Governments all around the world endeavor to make their contributions to the new universal climate agreement at the upcoming COP 21 in Paris. In addition to governmental determinations, the role that non-governmental organizations (NGOs) serves in the current post-Kyoto process has also turned more and more influential as it has contributed considerably to the negotiating process as well as various local actions.

 

As one of members on the planet, Taiwan understands that even though we have yet become a party of UNFCCC, we should not keep ourselves out of the issue. In view of this, Taiwanese government has actively participated in the COP meeting annually to show our achievement in low-carbon promotion and implementation. Besides, currently there are six Taiwan-based NGOs recognized as UNFCCC NGO observers. Together with other Taiwanese groups and businesses, they have taken actions on cutting down carbon dioxide emission through various approaches.

 

In order to strengthen the connections between our NGOs and the NGOs under UNFCCC, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Environmental Protection Administration have held annual UNFCCC NGO Forums since 2013. In the first year, the forum focused on ‘enhancing the engagement of observer organizations in the UNFCCC processes’. The theme of 2014 was ‘defining the role of NGOs in a post-Kyoto world’, which we invited speakers concerned with the involvement of indigenous people, females and youths in UNFCCC NGOs and in the international climate regime.

 

This year, by setting ‘coordination and implementation: the power of NGOs in new global governance regime’ as the theme, we seek to respond to the new climate agreement which is scheduled to be adopted at COP 21. Climate change is a cross-border, cross-racial and cross-disciplinary issue, so is the solution. We need collaboration between diverse sections and implementation at multiple levels, in particular on issues which relations with climate change are less perceived by people. Based on the idea, we select gender, indigenous peoples and health as focus topics for this year, hoping to appeal for more awareness and understanding of influences climate change has on these issues, and for more concerns with how the locals, like local NGOs, could contribute to solving the problems. We believe that since our impacts on the environment are inevitable, our responsibilities to save the planet should be indispensable.