Tainan, 21 November – The European Chamber of Commerce Taiwan's (ECCT) Low Carbon Initiative (LCI) today co-hosted the 2013 Tainan-Europe Low Carbon City Conference together with the Tainan city government in Tainan. The event is the first conference the LCI has co-hosted with a local city government in Taiwan. Themed "Smart Low Carbon Cities and Technologies", the conference was officially opened by Tainan Mayor Lai Ching-de and ECCT Chairman Giuseppe Izzo. This was followed by a signing ceremony to officially launch an employment and internship programme between the ECCT and National Cheng Kung University, which will provide employment to NCKU graduates at ECCT member companies. The morning session of the conference featured two keynote speeches on low carbon development and sustainability by Erdal Elver, President & CEO of Siemens Taiwan and LCI Steering Committee member and Hsu Jen-tse, Senior Technical Specialist at the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA). The afternoon session featured a panel discussion on low carbon city development strategies and case studies moderated by Dr Wen Lih-chyi, Deputy Director of the Ministry of Economic Affairs' (MoEA) Green Trade Project Office and included ECCT LCI members from BASF, Bosch and Schneider.

In his opening remarks at the conference, ECCT Chairman Giuseppe Izzo said it was gratifying to see how the ECCT's transition to a nationwide association in 2013 has resulted in such great cooperation with Tainan and other local city governments in Taiwan. He also said it was greatly encouraging that the goal of creating smart, low carbon cities is shared by the LCI and the Tainan City Government. The chairman said that the aim of the conference is to demonstrate the most advanced technologies and expertise and initiate partnerships between LCI members, the Tainan city government and Taiwanese firms to speed up Tainan's transition to a low-carbon model for Taiwan. "We all know that creating a sustainable future for our planet and our children is vital and we need to take action now. From the buildings we live and work in, the vehicles we travel in, the factories that produce the goods we consume and the power stations that produce electricity, European companies are actively developing new and better sustainable solutions. Through constant innovation, European countries and companies are working on new ways to improve energy efficiency and sustainability in every aspect of modern life," he said.

Chairman Izzo noted that Europe also has an ambitious target to produce 20% of its electricity from renewables by 2020 compared to Taiwan's target of only 8% by 2025. He said that he hoped that through cooperation with the ECCT, Taiwan will be inspired to set more ambitious renewable energy targets.

The chairman wrapped up his opening remarks by saying that the LCI's members are leading European companies and institutions that have joined forces to showcase the best European low carbon solutions and practices across a broad range of industries. "As more people learn about sustainable solutions, more action can be taken. In this way, we can all look forward to a green and sustainable future. We are ready to help Tainan become a truly smart, green city," he concluded.

Over 20 news reports (in Chinese) are online:
News research 1 (CHN)
News research 2 (CHN)
https://news.google.com.tw/news/story?ncl=dn3NI-qywv9XEbMcn1hjK7v9MlJVM&ned=tw&topic=t

RELEASE DATE: 21 November 2013
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