Ahead of COP29, Cheetah Liu-Lee, Policy and Advocacy Supervisor from Amnesty International’s Taiwan office, assesses the progress made since he was part of Amnesty’s COP28 delegation and shares his key aims for COP29 amid several climate challenges on the island.
Last year, we participated in the Amnesty International Delegation at COP28, joining protests with allied human rights organizations and engaging with other international human rights activists. Notably, the conference purported to mark the “beginning of the end” of the fossil fuel era. It also called on countries to triple their renewable energy capacity and double energy efficiency by 2030.
Building on this momentum, Amnesty International Taiwan has launched advocacy efforts to raise awareness and promote policy solutions for climate justice and a “just transition” in Taiwan. For COP29, we hope to see more ambitious action plans and standards in areas such as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), climate and health, and just transitions. We also hope to see greater involvement from civil society organizations in shaping global climate policies.
Thanks to the tireless efforts of civil society groups and many other stakeholders, the Taiwanese government plans to implement a carbon fee system by 2025. While we welcome this progress, we are concerned that the proposed carbon fee rates may be too lenient to hold corporations accountable for reducing emissions, potentially shifting the burden onto future generations. Against this backdrop, the Taiwanese government is also preparing to update its Nationally Determined Contributions.
We have continued to advocate for the importance of just transitions, including by addressing corporate as well as state responsibility
However, since Taiwan cannot directly participate in COP or UN governance mechanisms, it lacks access to the IPCC’s international review processes, which are critical for monitoring and assessing the feasibility and fairness of its targets, plans, and actions. This highlights a gap in the ability to have international monitoring and transparency of Taiwan’s climate policies, particularly around just transitions.
To address this, we hope to build on the outcomes of COP29 by inviting IPCC-affiliated experts or international climate organizations to contribute to a dedicated, independent review of Taiwan’s NDCs and climate governance policies. This would help Taiwan meet international human rights and environmental standards while ensuring its climate policies align with the principles of a just transition.
Over the past year, we have continued to advocate for the importance of just transitions throughout the energy shift, including by addressing corporate as well as state responsibility. We have also monitored the progress such efforts in Taiwan and across the region. Therefore, we are pleased to see the recent publication of Amnesty’s report ranking major companies in the electric vehicle industry according to their human rights commitments: Recharge for Rights.
Taiwan is home to numerous EV component manufacturers and suppliers. Its thriving renewable energy and EV supply chains play a vital role in the global energy transition. However, the recent report reveals significant human rights risks throughout the EV supply chain, beginning with the extraction of raw materials. A lack of awareness around just transition principles among many stakeholders has led to forced evictions and environmental pollution.
In light of these findings, we plan to launch new advocacy efforts targeting Taiwanese companies, such as electric scooter manufacturers, within EV supply chains. We also look forward to collaborating with civil society organizations across the Asia-Pacific region to promote solidarity and collective action on just transition issues.