Understanding Politics of Climate Change in Taiwan: International Isolation, Green Developmentalism, and Energy Democracy

Description

Taiwan is among the top 20 largest economies in the world and plays a key role in global supply chain. Yet, the industrial activities also come with a heavy environmental cost. Taiwan is the fifth largest coal importer in the world; at the per capita level, Taiwan’s carbon emission is higher than most developed countries. This talk will review the politics of climate change in Taiwan at different levels. At the global level, the talk will discuss how being a non-member to UNFCCC constrains Taiwan’s internal discussions on climate change; at the national level, the talk will focus on how Taiwan’s legacy of developmentalism shapes the policy trajectories on energy sources; at the local level, the talk will showcase how the potentials and challenges for Taiwan’s vibrant civil society to contribute to climate actions.
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John Chung-En Liu is an associate professor of sociology at National Taiwan University, and a faculty affiliate in the International Program on Climate Change and Sustainable Development. Dr. Liu received his Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and previously was an assistant professor at Occidental College in Los Angeles and a Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School.