Targets 13.1

Strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters in all countries.

Targets 13.2

Integrate climate change measures into national policies, strategies and planning.

Targets 13.3

Improve education, awareness-raising and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning.

Implement the Greenhouse Gas Control Program to build a foundation for climate actions

Taipei City has been working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions since 2008. In 2016, to meet the requirements of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction and Management Act and reach greenhouse gas reduction targets at a steady and pragmatic pace, the City followed up on the results of the “Taipei to Promote Energy Saving and Carbon Reduction Plan” by formulating the “Taipei City Greenhouse Gas Control Program” and establishing the “Greenhouse Gas Reduction Supervisory Report”, which is overseen by the Mayor, with the Department of Environmental Protection, Taipei City Government taking charge of greenhouse gas reduction affairs. The report establishes the department responsible for the residential and commercial sectors, transportation sector, waste sector, agricultural and forestry sector, and education and advisory, along with specific promotion strategies. Quarterly meetings are held to review and adjust the implementation of various action plans and stipulate the greenhouse gas reduction targets of each department by regularly examining and updating the City's greenhouse gas emissions data. The meetings also allow the municipal government to analyze the growth trend of greenhouse gases and establish the most appropriate reduction targets. In the spirit of “government leadership, industry cooperation, and citizen participation”, the City has made energy-saving and carbon reduction a common goal, thereby striving toward the vision of a “Livable and Sustainable Taipei”.

Creating a Sponge City to Restore Urban Water Cycle

Challenges such as extreme weather and competition for water resources will become increasingly prominent in the future. Accordingly, the City has placed the concept of a sponge city at the core of its water environmental policy, with “resilience and adaptation”, “sustainable water usage”, and “vibrant water environment” as the three major visions outlining a safe, sustainable, water-friendly, and ecological blueprint for Taipei's water environment. The sponge city concept involves six major goals: “restoring urban water cycle”, “increasing flood-resisting capacity”, “stable water supply and efficient water consumption”, “aquatic habitats with biodiversity”, and “promoting waterfront activities”. Engineering and management methods will be leveraged to further implement water-permeable pavements, increase the urban green coverage rate, promote the construction of green rooftops, increase the capacity of urban water storage for flood retention, upgrade sewage treatment, diversify the utilization of recycled water, restore and protect aquatic habitats, and create waterfront recreational environments. These measures in the City will allow water to infiltrate and be retained, while evaporation of water can help maintain the urban microclimate.

The City promotes the use of water-permeable pavements throughout public facilities (sidewalks, park squares, campuses, parking lots, etc.) so that water will be absorbed on rainy days and evaporate under the sun. From 2015 to 2020, 269,984 m² of sidewalks, park squares, campuses, and parking lots throughout the City were constructed with water-permeable pavements. Actual monitoring shows that the cooling effect of permeable bricks could successfully reduce the surrounding temperature by about 1.42–5.86°C. Therefore, it is evident that permeable pavements are capable of regulating the microclimate and reducing the urban heat island effect. Regarding the goal to enhance the City's capacity for flood prevention and increase the City's water retention volume, the City has completed three new detention pools, the Jinrui Flood Management Park (detention volume: 27,000 m³) in Neihu District, the Taipei Wenshan Sports Center Northern Flood Detention Pool (detention volume: 6,000m³), and the Military Police Camp Flood Detention Pool on Xinhai Road (detention volume: 46,000 m³), which added 79,000 tons of flood detention capacity. The City also promoted public-private partnership in disaster prevention. Private development projects above a certain scale must meet the minimum water retention requirement of 780m³ per hectare as well as the maximum discharge volume. The City has also established higher water retention standards for new or renovated parks, requiring water retention of 1,090 m³ per hectare to satisfy the “zero outflow from parks” design principle.

Promote heatwave early warning and response to reduce the impact of high temperatures

In addition to increasing green spaces and improving airflow to reduce the urban heat island effect, Taipei City also established a heatwave warning and notification system in 2016. The system was modified in 2018 to use the Central Weather Bureau's “High Temperature Information” as the standard for heatwave early warning. The warning system alerts relevant city government departments to initiate high temperature response measures. For example, the Department of Environmental Protection will start spraying water on streets to counter the heat, the Parks and Street Lights Office will irrigate green areas in parks, the Department of Labor will conduct labor inspections on outdoor workers, the Department of Social Welfare will take special care of senior citizens living alone, disabled people, and the homeless, the Market Administration Office will enhance food safety announcements for markets and vendors, and the Department of Health will notify emergency medical services and advise the food industry on health management. These measures mitigate the potential hazards caused by high temperatures during periods of extreme heat. The heatwave warning system has set out 72 alerts since its establishment in 2016 and as of the end of 2020. In response to these alerts, the City sprayed water on 5,038 kilometers of roads to lower the road surface temperature, irrigated 6,638,601 square meters of greenery, counseled the food industry 1,587 times, conducted 1,617 inspections on workplaces exposed to high heat, had the Market Administration Office hold 6,515 food safety advocacy campaigns in markets and venues where vendors gather, and reached out to senior citizens living alone, disabled persons living alone, and homeless people 82,218 times. These measures serve as an early warning and response to help mitigate the negative effects high temperatures can have on citizens.

Promote smart zero-carbon buildings

Taipei City's economic development is primarily based on tertiary industries. Furthermore, residential and commercial sectors account for 75% of the City's overall greenhouse gas emissions. To effectively reduce residential and commercial greenhouse gas emissions, the City plans to promote the development of zero-carbon buildings with the introduction of energy traceability systems for buildings and smart green building design to track the energy use of buildings. The City also encourages the use of circular construction materials for public and private buildings in order to achieve the goal of zero-carbon buildings and a circular economy by 2050.

These efforts start with the construction of social housing. Taking the “Taipei Nangang Depot Social Housing” as an example, the City introduced energy management systems and information and communication technology (ICT) plans on top of existing green building design concepts, and also promoted strategies such as “recyclable and circular building materials”, “resource recycling and reuse”, “resource recovery of waste”, “flexible modules”, and “rent over buy” to reduce the carbon footprint of building materials. Taipei Nangang Depot Social Housing became the first social housing complex in Taipei to introduce and implement a circular economy and received certifications such as the “silver-grade green building certification”, “gold-level intelligent building certification”, “structure accreditation”, and “accessible housing certification”, implementing the City's social housing circular economy system and promoting the recycling and sustainable utilization of social housing resources to ultimately reduce the building's greenhouse gas emissions.

Going forward, the City will adopt the principle of “from inner to outer, from public to private sector”, establishing low-carbon planning design principles starting with public construction projects and, in line with the concept of smart green buildings and circular economy, selecting regeneration or eco-friendly building materials to reduce greenhouse gas emissions during the construction process. The City will also continue to formulate construction regulations and systems to reduce the overall life cycle greenhouse gas emissions in buildings.

Deployment of renewable energy

In response to the global trend of energy transition, the City established the “Sustainable Energy Taipei” with the long-term objectives of building an energy-saving environment, expanding green energy supply, and driving industrial transformation. In particular, prioritizing the use of local and sustainable energy is the key to transitioning to low-carbon energy. Therefore, Taipei City actively seeks to expand the development and use of renewable energy. The City has launched the “Solar Taipei Program”, and proposed four major directions (tenders for municipal properties, subsidies for private installation, promote smart grids, establish civic power plants). These measures allow the City to use its limited space to create a circular, low-carbon green capital and driving production and employment opportunities in solar-related industries. Regarding public properties, the City established the “Guidelines for the Installation and Use of Solar PV Power Generation Equipment in City-Owned Public Properties”, which allowed government offices and schools to call for tenders to install solar PV power generation equipment. Over the past six years, the amount of solar PV installations has increased nearly 10-fold. As of the end of 2020, the City had installed 33,633kWp of solar PV systems. Additionally, to fully utilize and revitalize vast stretches of restored landfills, the “Taiwan Energy Hill 1.0 & 2.0” power generation program was enacted at the “Fudekeng Environmental Restoration Park”, with the City Government providing the restored landfills and the private sector providing funds. The program is expected to produce 300 MWp of green energy per year by converting sunlight into electricity or heat, thereby promoting the concept of  circular economy.

Additionally, the City also collaborated with the citizen interest group Homemakers United Foundation to provide solar-cell installation consultation and matching services. These efforts helped facilitate citizen participation in the utilization of renewable energy. Public fundraising allowed the group to obtain enough funds and built Taiwan's largest civic power plant at Guandu Junior High School in December 2020. Comprising 63 solar power panels with a capacity of 19.8 kWp, the civic power plant is expected to generate 19,000 kWh of power per year.

The City is also actively encouraging the installation of solar PV equipment in apartment buildings and residential complexes by subsidizing private properties. The Xinyi Xincheng Community in Da'an District is a prime example of this. The community residents, solar energy system manufacturers funded 145.7 kWp of solar PV systems on the roof with subsidies from the Taipei City Government, which not only helped resolve problems such as high temperature and water leakage on the top floor but also generates a steady income for the community from electricity sales.

Improve green transportation

To provide smoother, high-quality, low-carbon transportation services and reduce the City's overall greenhouse gas emissions from transportation, the City plans to include Transit-Oriented-Development (TOD) planning principles through urban planning, urban design, and urban renewal reviews, gradually adjusting land allocation to provide user-friendly transportation environments. This includes reducing the scale construction plans to leave room for more comfortable sidewalks and bike paths, strengthening the City's public transit network, planning suitable transfer and temporary parking areas, and strengthening the management of private vehicles to ensure orderly, coordinated transportation. These efforts will improve the capacity of the City's overall traffic environment.

The Taipei Metro is the backbone of the City's green transportation network, supplemented by electric buses, shared vehicles and scooters, and taxis, along with options such as walking or renting a YouBike. Following its “green transportation policy”, the City provides transfer discounts and transit passes for public transportation while expanding paid parking and parking management of scooters in commercial districts, thereby encouraging citizens to use green public transportation instead of driving private vehicles. The goal is to increase the ratio of green transportation from 60% to 70%.

The City has already made systematic plans to optimize bus routes in the direction of “fast transit, main bus lines, branch routes, and microcirculation”, using big data to help optimize the bus route network. In 2021, the City also launched the YouBike 2.0 upgraded project, which is expected to install 1,200 YouBike stations across the City by the end of 2022. The project will provide citizens with closer, more accessible public bikeshare services.

Going forward, the City will continue to improve its green transportation management system to construct a more convenient and comprehensive sustainable transportation system and effectively reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Promote e-mobility

In addition to improving green transportation management, e-mobility is also an important part of reaching net-zero emissions. The City has already proposed plans for transitioning to city buses, subsidies for electric scooters, and infrastructure plans. These strategies will provide citizens with cleaner air and gradually complete the City's low-carbon transportation infrastructure.

All City buses go electric

To accelerate the City's transition to electric buses, Taipei City began planning the “Taipei City Electric Bus Promotional Pilot Project” in 2018. The project includes measures such as encouraging operators to adopt electric buses by subsidizing the purchase of electric buses, suspending subsidies for diesel buses, requiring new routes to be operated with electric buses, prioritizing the replacement of old diesel buses for new electric buses on busier routes, and helping operators build electric bus terminals. As of the end of 2020, Taipei had 48 electric buses on the road and three electric bus terminals. By the end of 2022, Taipei City expects to have 400 electric buses on the road with additional electric bus terminals. By collaborating with the private sector, the City Government aims to expand the scope of green transportation and achieve 100% electrification of city buses by 2030.

Electric Scooter Subsidy Program

Taipei City has increased its electronic scooter subsidies. In 2021, not counting subsidies from the central government, the City tripled the subsidy provided in 2020, offering NT$9,000 for riders to replace old scooters for electric models and bringing the maximum e-scooter subsidy to NT$19,000 (including subsidies from the Environmental Protection Administration and Ministry of Economic Affairs). The City also offers e-scooter riders “four exemptions”, namely exemptions from vehicle license taxes, fuel taxes, parking fees, and charging fees, while following the Electric Vehicle Promotion Policy to actively establish e-scooter friendly environments. Between 2021 and 2022, the number of e-scooter charging stations is expected to increase from 156 to over 250, ensuring a sound infrastructure for electric vehicles. The goal is for electric scooters to account for 20% of all scooters in Taipei by 2023 and over 35% by 2030.

Construct an environment for green innovation investment

Green industry is a key developmental item in the City's objective of striking a balance between environmental sustainability and economic development. With a focus on the concept of circular economy, Taipei City launched the “Subsidies & Incentives for Taipei Industry” to facilitate the upgrade and transformation of small and medium enterprises. As of the end of 2020, the City had provided NT$16.36 million in incentives and subsidies to 10 circular economy and green energy-related enterprises. These subsidies will drive private enterprises to invest an estimated NT$35.02 million in innovation, becoming the cradle of circular economy entrepreneurship and driving the development of new business models with innovation.

There have already been numerous cases of circular economy implementation from subsidized enterprises in the City. For example, Nutransfer International Co., Ltd. developed the “ink recycling reusable circular system”, installing residual ink catchers that can recycle over 90% of residual ink, thus making the product friendlier to the environment, lowering emissions, and strengthening the value of green energy-related industries. ClothesTelling Co., Ltd. launched an online shared closet that allows buyers and sellers to exchange second-hand clothing, embodying the spirit of circular economy. Agriforward Co., Ltd. aims to resolve agricultural sustainability issues through technology, providing technology and consultation services tailored to each client. This helps resolve farming and agricultural environmental pollution issues, maximize the value of agricultural products to increase farmers' earnings, and establish a “cradle to cradle” model for food and agriculture to address the conflict between humankind and the environment.

Promote sustainable, low-carbon procurement

Taipei City actively fosters a low-carbon green industrial environment, encouraging citizens to practice green consumption and implementing green procurement in the public sector. Through green procurement, the City strengthens its promotion of sustainable consumption and production models, thereby achieving the goals of environmental protection and raising awareness among general consumers. In 2020, the amount spent through green procurement for designated programs reached NT$ 728.81 million and continued to show steady growth. For private enterprises and groups, the City guides relevant manufacturers to apply for eco-labels, thereby increasing the market share of green products. This, in turn, encourages consumers to choose said products. In 2020, private enterprises and groups in Taipei City engaged in green procurement worth up to NT$ 13.2 billion, the highest in Taiwan. Going forward, the City will establish low-carbon sustainable procurement regulations, with the public sector leading the charge in purchasing products with low-carbon certifications like eco-labels or energy-saving labels. The City will also continue to encourage citizens to practice green consumption, promote green business opportunities, and build a green living circle.