[Opinion] Just Transition: A Must-do for a City’s Sustainability Development
How a populated city aims to be a pioneer sustainable and climate resilient city in Asia?
This opinion article is written by Next Urban Idea Ltd. Any opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of TWYCC.
Next Urban Idea was established in 2019 as the Asia branch of The Urban Idea GmbH (TUI) based at Germany. Next Urban Idea aims aim to promote SDGs and accelerate sustainable development of cities and corporations by delivering inspiring solutions, building awareness and strategizing programs to drive tangible actions.
Climate crisis is hitting us all on an unprecedented scale. City, as a key cause of climate change where urban infrastructure and activities are the major sources of greenhouse gas emissions, is walking on a tightrope to transform the society between: a resilient city with climate adaptation, or a deserted city where resource consumption and human footprint exceed the environment’s carrying capacity (overpopulation). In Asia, where the biggest populated city inhabiting 4 million citizens in Taiwan is New Taipei City government is accelerating its climate actions, both mitigation and adaptation.
Does “ no one left behind” a void or an ideal of city governance?
Ensuring people’s rights in policy decision-making process has always been essential while sustaining their livings during greener industrial transition and extreme weather disasters.
In fact, Taiwan, the world’s 21st largest economy located in monsoon region, is facing critical climate threats such as floods, typhoons, droughts, and inadequate food and energy self-sufficiency. New Taipei City, the most populous metropolis in Taiwan, is at the forefront of the multiple climate issues and has committed itself to be the pioneer of “leaving no one behind” city. The City is tackling the climate change and just transition at the same time. In 2019, the City released Taiwan’s first and the world’s 10th SDGs Voluntary Local Review Report. In the same year, the City joined in the “Powering Past Coal Alliance, PPCA” and committed itself to be a coal-free city and to reduce carbon emission by 30% in 2030. In 2021, the City has pledged itself to be a net zero city by 2050, before Taiwan central government made the national 2050 net zero emission goals in 2022.
The New Taipei City Mayor Hou, Yu-Ih said, “We have to ensure that our climate actions can benefit every citizen in our territory. Together we move towards a healthier, lower-carbon, and more inclusive society.”
Boost dialogues with citizen for a fair and resilient city
Three ethnic groups are specifically focused in New Taipei City’s just transition policies, who are vulnerable groups in remote areas, women, and young generations.
When green inflation and increased energy bills are foreseen in the future, disadvantaged groups will become more vulnerable to afford their livings. Also, extreme weathers have particularly impacted people in mountainous areas and lowlands. In order to mitigate the weather risks, New Taipei City has built 19 flooding prevention communities with medical rescue teams, flood control monitoring systems, and green hydrogen fuel cells electricity backup systems. The City subsidizes to not only the low-income and energy poverty households to improve their energy quality, but also introduces renewable power companies to rent the rooftops to some charity organizations for solar panels installation. Most of the cost is subsidized by New Taipei City’s Climate Fund pool, which accumulated from the City’s carbon fees and carbon offset projects from its industries.
According to a 2017 United Nations Development Program’s Gender and Climate Change report, 80% of victims displaced by climate disasters are women. To turn this inequality, New Taipei City actively integrates gender, youth, and aging perspectives into its sustainable city policy. The City has collaborated with local NGOs to set up 4 start-up incubator centers and 12 co-working spaces. The facilities are to provide resources and green financing schemes to empower underprivileged women and young groups to promote green transition business, even start their own companies and become green collar working professionals. Since the aging society is also a critical factor, the City also supports young-elderly entrepreneurship to foster a more inclusive and more productive community.
When it comes to Taiwan’s young generation, they gradually gain more concerned about climate issues and prefer to choose jobs that contribute to environmental sustainability, such as renewable energy companies or low-carbon business. 9 universities in New Taipei City had worked with the city government to develop their 19 USR programs in 2019, which their students can explore their green future careers and to come up with the sustainable actions. Furthermore, the City established the youth committee inside its municipal structure in 2022, to empower the young generation to propose their innovative ideas and be involved in the municipal policy making process.
It’s no We, if we leave anyone behind
All these actions are just the beginning of a city’s just transition. There are tons of challenges for the City to conquer over. It still requires the City to communicate closely with its people, and to empower them to participate in climate actions together. To city, sustainability is a never-ending journey of continuous and dynamic adjustments. What the City of New Taipei can do is to just pave the way day by day and act pragmatically towards its sustainable goals.
