Mayor’s remarks:
I. Building a low-carbon, sustainable future under the Paris Agreement
1. The Paris Agreement, the world’s first comprehensive agreement on combating climate change, went into effect on November 4th, 2016. As a member of the global village, Taiwan should take the responsibility to reduce carbon emissions together with other countries. The central government not only made the “Greenhouse Gas Reduction and Management Act” last year but also stipulated that the long-term goal was to “reduce the carbon emission in 2050 to 50% of that in 2005”. Last month, the Executive Yuan also asked for preliminary measures for the reduction of greenhouse gas from related departments and started planning the first reduction goal and action plan.
2. A “Low-Carbon City” is one of the four visions of Tainan and also a solemn promise to future generations. Therefore, we are never absent in the promotion of low-carbon policies. In 2011, Tainan was the only recognized model low-carbon city in southern Taiwan. We further transformed the idea into specific measures by making it one of the “Ten Major Flagship Projects—Convenient Living in Tainan.” I announced 2012 as the “first low-carbon year” of Tainan, calling for the participation of every citizen to live a low0carbon life. As the pioneer of Taiwan, Tainan promulgated the “Autonomous Rules for Building Tainan City as a Low Carbon City” on December 22nd, 2012, demonstrating the city’s determination and perseverance.
3. Over the last five years, Tainan has invested more than NT$4.8 billion in its carbon reduction projects. 2.67 million metric tons of CO2e has since been reduced, with non-industrial emissions accounting for 300,000 metric tons of the reduction. We have reached the scheduled reduction goal, showing that our low-carbon strategy is effective. I thank all departments and bureaus for their hard work, and I hope that we can continue to work on improving the low-carbon plans and setting new reduction goals. Tainan will be both a low-carbon and sustainable city. The Environmental Protection Bureau should keep updated on information from Taiwan and other countries and conduct a rolling review of the low-carbon strategies to catch up with global trend and connect Tainan with the world.
4. Our hard work has been acknowledged by the central government as Tainan has been designated as the Green Energy Science City of the five major research and development industries. This encouragement is consistent to our past efforts. I hope that each department and bureau can closely cooperate with the central government to ensure that the establishment of the Green Energy Science City can go with the schedule successfully.
II. Providing cross-city transportation services with the Tainan’s advanced public transportation system
1. The Yellow 9 line of Tainan City Bus has been extended to the Southern Branch of the National Palace Museum since November 4th. On November 3rd, Chang Hwa-Kuan, the magistrate of Chiayi County and I presided over the commencing ceremony together. I would like to express my gratitude to Chiayi County Government for its strong support of the collaboration Tainan and Chiayi on regional governance and public services.
2. Since the merger of Tainan City and Tainan County, we have been proactive to provide northern Tainan citizens with better access to HSR Chiayi Station. After many trials, the bus route was incorporated into the Yellow 9 line of Tainan City Bus in 2013. Now, the traffic volume has increased from 1,000 passengers per month to 10,000, making the bus route a major shuttle servicefor areas to the north of Zengwun River. Now that the line has been extended to the national museum, Chiayi and Xinying are more closely connected, and tourism is expected to be further promoted.
3. Apart from Tainan, the other five of the six special municipalities all have metro systems. Since our overall conditions do not favor a metro system, we have carried out the “metro bus system” project. The passengers of Tainan City Bus have thus multiplied in number, from 7.49 million after the merger of the city and county to 18.02 million last year. This year, the ridership is expected to surpass 20 million. An advanced public transportation system is essential for Tainan to become a modern city. I thank Director-General Chang of the Bureau of Transportation and his colleagues for starting the project of “Preliminary Planning and Feasibility Study of the Advanced Public Transportation System in Tainan” with a responsible attitude and outlining a great vision of Tainan’s public transportation. This project has been sent to the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, and we hope to hear good news soon.