Lai Ching-te: 2030 is the Timeline for Developing Taiwan's Sustainable Development Goals
Premier Lai Ching-te presided over the “31st Council Meeting of the NCSD, Executive Yuan” today (14th), inviting members of the NCSD and heads of relevant ministries and councils to discuss Taiwan's draft of the Sustainable Development Goals. The draft includes a general theory, 18 core goals, 138 specific goals and 343 corresponding indicators, which will serve as an important basis for promoting sustainable development in Taiwan.
According to Premier Lai, Taiwan's limited natural resources and dependence on imported energy, coupled with its dense population and heavy environmental burden, make the pursuit of sustainable development more urgent than that of other countries, and sustainable development has become an issue of national public concern. The government attaches great importance to promoting sustainable development.
Premier Lai pointed out that President Tsai emphasized the need to "build a new economic model that pursues sustainable development with innovation, employment, and distribution as the core values" in her inaugural speech in 2016; in her National Day speech last year (2017), she said that "we are fully committed to promoting the UN's Sustainable Development Goals"; in her National Day speech this year (2018), she once again mentioned that "defending the sustainable development of the R.O.C Taiwan is the common goal of all the people of Taiwan. The pursuit of sustainable development of the country is definitely a policy direction for our joint efforts.
Premier Lai emphasized that Taiwan has made reference to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals announced by the United Nations in 2015. Based on the current situation and needs of our country, we have formulated the "Taiwan’s Sustainable Development Goals" with the year 2030 as timeline. Premier Lai requested all ministries and councils to actively promote them in accordance with the goals. The progress in promoting Taiwan’s sustainable development will be reviewed regularly in the future.
According to the Executive Yuan, there are 18 core goals of Taiwan’s Sustainable Development Goals, the first 17 of which correspond to the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, covering care for disadvantaged groups, food security, healthy living and welfare, fair and high-quality education, gender equality, environmental quality and protection, energy sustainability, quality employment opportunities, transportation system construction, inequality reduction, sustainable urban and rural construction, green economy, climate change response, marine ecosystem protection, terrestrial ecosystem protection, peaceful and diversified society and judicial equality, and partnerships for the goals, etc. In addition, in accordance with Article 23 of Taiwan’s “Basic Environment Act” and in response to the referendum results, we will gradually achieve a non-nuclear home in accordance with the law.
The Executive Yuan pointed out that the formulation of the Sustainable Development Goals depends on the participation of all people. The first version of Taiwan’s draft of the Sustainable Development Goals was completed at the end of last year. However, as the goals of the draft are closely related to the future development of the country, all indicators should be in line with international standards. In order to be thorough and to forge consensus, a total of 4 citizen forums have been held this year in the Northern, Central, Southern, and Eastern Taiwan, inviting legislators, members of relevant committees of the NCSD, Executive Yuan, and people who have long been concerned about sustainable development issues. At the same time, a live webcast was carried out and the "Public Policy Online Participation Platform" of the Executive Yuan was opened to propose amendments to the goals in order to collect opinions from all sectors. In addition, a "General Theory of the Goals" was especially added this year to provide a complete overview of Taiwan’s sustainable development, and 2030 was set as a timeline to formulate specific goals and corresponding indicators.
The Executive Yuan emphasized that the development of Taiwan's Sustainable Development Goals will be of great benefit to the country's efforts to promote sustainable development, and will demonstrate our determination to work with other countries to implement the UN' Sustainable Development Goals and achieve sustainable development of all people.