President Tsai Joins Women Leaders to Reaffirm Climate Commitment

TAIPEI, TAIWAN –
MediaOutReach – 11 March 2022 – President Tsai Ing-wen made a commitment on Tuesday to climate justice through policy that places equal emphasis on environmental integrity, economic development, and social justice at a time when women around the world have borne the brunt of climate change.

She made the pledge at Women’s Power Night, an event in celebration of International Women’s Day that was jointly organized by the Foundation for Women’s Rights Promotion and Development (FWRPD) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and brought together female members of the diplomatic corps and NGO and social enterprise leaders. Also to be held would be nearly 30 virtual international conferences that are part of an ongoing initiative to make clear to the world Taiwan’s resolve to strive for gender equality and climate justice.

During the event, president Tsai stated, “Taiwan continues to pursue broad engagement with like-minded nations and international organizations to promote women’s empowerment. We have joined Indo-Pacific partners in innovative regional initiatives for women’s economic empowerment. And our civil society organizations maintain a robust presence at the NGO Forum of the UN Commission on the Status of Women. Thanks to their efforts, we have been able to share our experiences with the world, particularly in achieving Sustainable Development Goals for gender equality and women’s empowerment, and also to forge stronger links with global partners.”

Women have sustained greater impact of climatic and environmental disasters than men, the FWRPD said, but they stand out not only as first victims but also as frontline defenders. Many parties concerned about climate justice and equal rights have thus been welcomed on board the 2022 Taiwan Gender Equality Week (www.tgew.org) as partners to learn more about the key role women play in climate action and explore possible ways to take effective environmental action. Indeed, collective change and action is needed as we all have to work together toward climate justice and gender equality.