As the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP 28) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) summit in Dubai wraps up with several new resolutions and goals made toward reducing global greenhouse gas emissions, Taiwan is committed to doing our part as an advanced nation to combat climate change – despite the fact our nation is denied a seat at the table.

Taiwan is well positioned to serve as an effective, secure and reliable partner, alongside the U.S. and the state of Colorado, in the fight to control climate change. Our nation has much to offer to the global community in terms of technology and expertise in this. Unfortunately, Taiwan’s continued exclusion from the UNFCCC serves as an unnecessary impediment to us being full partners in this fight.

Taiwan has an admirable record when it comes to responding to climate change. This past February, the Climate Change Response Act was enacted by President Tsai Ing-wen requiring Taiwan achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. In advance of this new law, “Pathway to Net Zero Emissions in 2050” was published and released last year, outlining 12 key strategies for our nation to achieve this ambitious target. Even before this blueprint was developed, Taiwan has made great strides in terms of both energy efficiency and clean-energy technology. For instance, Taiwan’s energy intensity – the amount of energy used to produce a product or deliver a service – has improved during the past decade by an average of 2.9% per year. And Taiwan’s overall energy efficiency has grown to eighth in the world, according to a 2022 report by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy.

In terms of clean and renewable energy, one of Taiwan’s key economic drivers is the development of innovative green technology. Our installed renewable energy capacity has grown by an average of 21.9% per year during the last five years, more than double the world average of 9.1%. In this regard, Taiwan has outperformed all other developed Asian countries, including China, South Korea and Japan. Fully 10% of all electricity generated in Taiwan this year is expected from renewable sources.

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Due to our country’s small size and geographical location, we have had to approach the issues of climate change and pollution in a more holistic manner. Taiwan imports more than 70% of our natural resources; therefore, we have had to make waste reduction and recycling a priority. The establishment of a Resource Circulation Administration under the newly restructured Ministry of Environment (MOE), and its mandate to implement three key resource circulation strategies – green designs for waster reduction at the source, recycling and reusing of resources, and managing waste treatment – has resulted in the municipal waste recycling rate in the country reaching 59.5% in 2022, and an increase in the industrial waste reuse rate to 86.5%.

Taiwan wants nothing more than to be a good global neighbor. Our nation has much to offer the world in terms of expertise and advanced technology, applicable to such fields as disaster prevention and relief, environmental protection, public health and green technology. But the continued exclusion of Taiwan from international organizations such as the UNFCCC – exclusions forced by the People’s Republic of China for their own ideological and geopolitical motives – does nothing but hinder what could be extremely productive bilateral and multilateral cooperation in advance of a more sustainable future.

This is part of a continuing pattern of China’s aggression toward our country, a pattern that has persisted for more than 70 years. Colorado and Taiwan already do a great deal of business together, which benefits both parties. Our cooperation could extend so much further and produce so much more benefit on many fronts if Taiwan were to be treated as an equal in the community of nations, beginning with full inclusion on critical international bodies like the UNFCCC.

Taiwan stands ready to join Colorado, the United States and the world as a reliable, secure and trustworthy partner in tackling the climate crisis, and any other challenge that may await us. On behalf of the Taiwanese people, I extend thanks to Colorado’s leaders and elected officials for their friendship, and ask for their continued support in our efforts to overcome China’s unnecessary and unhelpful truculence, and support in our efforts to participate fully in the community of nations.

Bill Huang is director general of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Denver, which serves as the de facto consulate for the Republic of China (Taiwan) in the states of Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota.