18 September 2018: Thomas Chan, Taiwan’s Deputy Minister of the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA), launched Taiwan’s 2018 Report on the SDG implementation during a workshop held in New York. The report responds to the main theme of the 2018 High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) – transformation towards sustainable and resilient societies – and reviews Taiwan’s implementation of the six SDGs reviewed by the HLPF in 2018.

Taiwan launched a Voluntary National Review on the SDGs on the sidelines of the UNGA in New York, US, in September 2017. During the launch, EPA Minister Lee Ying-yuan said Taiwan will promote sustainable development, implement the SDGs in a timely manner, and share the results of global partnership with the international community. He also urged other countries to work with Taiwan in pursuit of sustainable development for the world and all humankind.

The 2018 Report on SDG Implementation addresses issues and concerns raised by the participants of seven public fora held in Taiwan by the National Council for Sustainable Development in 2017 and 2018, focusing on six issues identified as priorities: smart water resources management; sustainable energy transformation; clean air; sustainable materials management and the circular economy; ecological conservation and green networks; and international partnerships for the SDGs. The report’s analysis sets out Taiwan’s vision for these issues, exploring their current status and describing measures to be taken.

In addition, the report indicates that the National Council for Sustainable Development, which is chaired by the Premier, is formulating Taiwan’s own sustainable development goals, with the SDGs as its reference. To implement Taiwan’s SDGs, the report says the government will work with other countries to realize the official SDGs and will set down more ambitious targets for Taiwan’s sustainable development than those enshrined in the SDGs.

Taiwan’s SDGs comprise 18 goals, 143 targets, and 342 indicators. The 18 goals are:

• Strengthen social care services and economic security for the disadvantaged
• End hunger, ensure food safety, and promote sustainable agriculture
• Ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages
• Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
• Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
• Ensure environmental quality and sustainable management of environmental resources
• Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all
• Promote sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for all
• Build an affordable, safe, environmentally friendly, resilient, and sustainable transportation structure
• Reduce inequality within Taiwan, and between Taiwan and other countries
• Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable
• Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
• Improve adaptive actions to combat climate change and its impacts
• Conserve and sustainably use the marine ecosystems, and prevent the degradation of marine environment
• Conserve and sustainably use terrestrial ecosystems to ensure the persistence of biodiversity and prevent land degradation
• Promote peaceful and inclusive societies, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable inclusive institutions
• Establish diversified partnerships and work together to advance a sustainable vision
• Build a nuclear-free homeland by 2025

During an interview on 18 September 2018, Chan highlighted Taiwan’s achievements against these goals, including the reduction of both household and industrial waste by 80% and biodiversity conservation, with eight of Taiwan’s species previously on the endangered list no longer endangered. He also noted Taiwan’s Electricity Act that states that, by 2025, nuclear power generation equipment should be completely shut down and the proportion of renewable energy in the energy mix should reach 20%. [SDG Knowledge Hub sources]