New Taipei City applies to join Powering Past Coal Alliance

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/11/16
By: Sally Jensen, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Deputy Mayor of New Taipei City Hsieh Cheng-ta (謝政達) announced on Thursday (Nov. 14) that the special municipality would be the first city in Taiwan to become coal-free.

Scholars from fellow island nations the U.K. and Japan were invited to the 2019 Towards the Sustainable and Energy Transformation Forum hosted by New Taipei City Government on Thursday. Hsieh announced that the city will submit its application to the Powering Past Coal Alliance (PPCA), becoming the first city in Taiwan to officially join and committing to being coal-free by 2023.

The move has been praised by PPCA founders Canada and the UK. The application documents will be formally submitted to the alliance’s headquarters in the near future, and it is hoped that by joining, New Taipei City will encourage more cities to come on board.

The PPCA is a global alliance of national and local governments, businesses, and organizations working to accelerate the transition away from the unabated generation of coal power. Launched at the COP23 climate summit in 2017, it now has 91 members.    [FULL  STORY]