News Source: Economic Daily
The Taiwan Chemical Industry Association (TCIA) hosted the “2023 Taiwan Chemical Industry Summit” on August 30th at the International Conference Center of the National Taiwan University Hospital. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the TCIA and is also the 20th consecutive year of the summit. The theme of the conference is “Net Zero Actions for Sustainability and Digital Transformation for Innovation”. Experts and scholars from the US, Japan, Europe, and domestically analyzed international net-zero trends and research results. At the same time, the elite award for this session was presented. The opening ceremony was addressed by TICA Chairman Chen Weiwang, Director of the Department of Industrial Development of the Ministry of Economic Affairs Lian Jinzhang, former Minister of Economic Affairs Shi Yanshang, and Director of the Chemical Substances Management Office of the Environmental Protection Agency Xie Yanru. Lian Jinzhang also visited the vendor exhibition outside the venue. Over 400 people participated that day, showing their enthusiasm for physical events after the pandemic.
TCIA Chairman Chen Weiwang stated that last year the association promoted the signing of the industrial net-zero declaration. This year, in collaboration with the Industrial Research Institute, they released the current carbon emissions status for public reference, serving as a communication platform for industries to access net-zero sustainable information. Currently, the entire world is pursuing net-zero carbon emissions and digital transformation. The summit invited experts from both domestic and international backgrounds to share their achievements in reducing carbon through both offline and online methods, hoping that members and enterprises can learn and grow together.
Director Lian Jinzhang of the Department of Industrial Development emphasized that net-zero carbon emissions are a global trend. For success, the entire company must participate, especially the CEOs who should actively promote it. The net-zero carbon emission target is inevitable, and the government has allocated a large budget to help enterprises implement it. This is an excellent opportunity, and he hopes that everyone will work hard to establish carbon emission management capabilities within three years.
Director Xie Yanru of the Chemical Substances Management Office of the Environmental Protection Agency pointed out that among the 12 principles of green chemistry, net-zero carbon emissions are one of them. The aim is to move towards not using harmful or toxic substances, reducing environmental pollution from the source, formulating and implementing regulations, improving the management of chemical substances, and establishing a non-toxic, green, healthy, and sustainable environment.
The first day of the summit discussed topics like welcoming the new era of global chemical industry challenges and futures in climate change, innovative technologies in Japan’s quest for zero-emissions societies, carbon policy regulations and manufacturer responses, and the digital transformation of chemical industry R&D and production. The talks were delivered by experts like Mark Eramo, Hiroaki Utori, Professor Li Jianming from Taipei University, and Alexei Lapkin. On the previous (31st) and today (1st) two online sub-forums also featured many exciting lectures, and a 2023 net-zero emissions survey report in collaboration with the Industrial Technology Research Institute was released.
