Five Policy Priorities

The pledge presents five mutually reinforcing priorities for making Taiwan’s six special municipalities safer, more sustainable and more resilient.

I. Local Renewable Energy and Sustainable Industrial Decarbonization

Will you commit to strengthening local renewable energy development, advancing sustainable industrial transformation, and enhancing local economic competitiveness?

Taiwan’s six special municipalities have long been the country’s principal centres of industry and electricity demand, while also accommodating the growth needs of high-tech manufacturing and emerging digital industries. As renewable electricity has become an essential condition for international supply chains, corporate ESG strategies and net-zero commitments, and the investment decisions of multinational companies, local governments can no longer serve merely as implementers of national energy policy. They must actively expand renewable energy supply and local energy autonomy, help companies secure adequate and reliable renewable electricity, sustain industrial competitiveness, attract investment, and strengthen the competitiveness of their cities as a whole.

The six municipalities should therefore make “expanding local renewable electricity supply and increasing local self-sufficiency” a core objective of industrial development and urban governance. Clear renewable energy targets, systematic measures to strengthen renewable electricity supply, mechanisms that integrate supply and demand, and early-stage energy planning for industrial parks are needed to build the energy foundations required for future industrial growth and investment.

1. Set local renewable energy targets and establish a long-term governance roadmap for the energy transition

Set local renewable energy development targets for 2035, assess renewable energy potential within the municipality and the renewable electricity self-sufficiency rate of each sector, and establish concrete implementation pathways. Clear medium- and long-term policy targets should guide the integration of resources across municipal departments while mobilising industry, communities and civil society to participate in local renewable energy development, thereby creating a shared governance foundation for advancing the energy transition.

2. Expand local renewable electricity supply to strengthen urban energy autonomy and industrial competitiveness

Prioritise and improve the mechanisms for developing rooftop solar on publicly owned buildings, car parks, commercial and office buildings, industrial parks and other suitable sites. Accelerate renewable electricity deployment through cross-departmental coordination and public-private partnerships, expand supply, and strengthen both local energy autonomy and the energy foundations needed for industrial development.

3. Integrate local renewable electricity supply and demand to create a market that benefits both industry and the energy transition

Establish a more comprehensive mechanism for integrating renewable electricity supply and demand. Bring major electricity users with a contracted capacity of 800 kW or more under local energy management, and codify this requirement in municipal net-zero ordinances, in order to improve the matching of corporate electricity demand with renewable energy supply. Encourage electricity-intensive industries to form long-term partnerships with local renewable energy developers and prioritise local renewable electricity procurement. This will make the local renewable electricity market more stable and predictable, reduce corporate energy procurement risks, enable locally generated renewable electricity to support industrial development more effectively, and improve the city’s competitiveness in attracting investment and enabling industrial transformation.

II. Disaster Resilience and Protection of Essential Services

Will you commit to building disaster-resilient communities with autonomous power supply, advancing community-based distributed energy, strengthening disaster resilience, and safeguarding essential services?

Every disaster reminds us that genuine protection depends not only on post-disaster relief, but also on preparedness before an emergency occurs. Whether a community can maintain electricity during a disaster directly affects medical care, communications, water supply, emergency shelter, and the ability to provide timely support to older people, children and vulnerable families. As extreme weather and natural hazards become more frequent, disruption to a single large-scale power grid can bring daily life across an entire community to a halt. Energy autonomy and distributed power systems are therefore essential disaster-preparedness infrastructure for protecting people’s basic needs and safety.

Community-scale solar power, energy storage and microgrids can keep electricity flowing to schools, community centres, long-term care facilities and emergency shelters during disasters, allowing these sites not only to provide refuge but also to care for people who need assistance. Revenue generated by local renewable energy can also be returned to communities to support long-term care, education and services for vulnerable groups, creating a positive cycle of mutual support and community self-reliance.

1. Build energy-resilient emergency hubs and strengthen community response capacity

Identify schools, community centres, long-term care facilities, emergency shelters and other essential public facilities, as well as suitable spaces in neighbourhoods and apartment buildings, and combine rooftop solar, energy storage and microgrid technologies to create resilience hubs with backup power. Disaster backup power has traditionally depended heavily on diesel generators, yet fuel supply, fuel reserves and equipment maintenance may all be disrupted during a disaster, and generators may be unable to support diverse community electricity needs for extended periods. Integrating community rooftop solar with energy storage can create disaster-resilient communities with autonomous power and support community-centred distributed energy systems. This will strengthen disaster resilience and ensure the continued operation of medical care, communications, water supply, emergency shelter and other essential services when disasters occur.

2. Create an inclusive disaster-preparedness system and improve drills so that older people and persons with disabilities can evacuate safely

Disaster drills and community emergency plans should incorporate the needs of older people, persons with disabilities, people with chronic illnesses and other vulnerable groups. Municipalities should identify residents who require continuous electricity and establish comprehensive response procedures. Essential facilities such as social housing, long-term care centres and emergency shelters should be prioritised for backup-power operation, management and disaster-response mechanisms. New social and public housing should also prioritise solar power, energy storage and backup-power systems, with clear procedures for operation and management during disasters. Information sharing and operational training for backup-power equipment should be strengthened so that, during disasters or large-scale power outages, persons with disabilities and other vulnerable residents who depend on powered mobility aids, life-sustaining equipment or other electricity-dependent support can receive timely and uninterrupted assistance.

3. Establish a community benefit-sharing system that uses renewable electricity revenue to support long-term care, education, disaster preparedness and community resilience

Municipal governments should connect social welfare organisations with renewable energy companies and establish a renewable energy revenue-sharing system. A portion of electricity sales revenue should be returned to communities and directed first towards long-term care services, education for children and young people, support for vulnerable families, community disaster preparedness and resilience-building. The energy transition should not only supply electricity; it should also become a long-term resource that strengthens essential services and creates shared local benefits.

III. Heat Adaptation and Public Health

Will you commit to strengthening heat adaptation policies to protect public health and safety?

Extreme heat has become a major challenge for urban governance. Local governments hold key responsibilities for urban planning, public space, green infrastructure, social welfare, and disaster prevention and response, while mayors are central decision-makers in advancing heat adaptation policy. As climate change intensifies heat risks, local governments should establish inclusive heat adaptation strategies grounded in environmental justice and responsive to the needs of older people, persons with disabilities, people with chronic illnesses, unhoused people and others who are particularly vulnerable to heat. Only by identifying risks early, improving the built environment, establishing effective governance mechanisms and enabling diverse groups to participate can cities protect public health and become safer, more liveable and more resilient.

1. Develop heat-risk maps to strengthen early warning and resource allocation

Integrate data on age, health, gender, climate and the built environment, and map the distribution of heat-vulnerable groups, to create heat-risk maps that guide early warnings, resource allocation and policy investment. The analysis should account for the distinct risks faced by persons with disabilities, older people living alone, unhoused people and other groups, ensuring that heat adaptation resources reach those who most need support.

2. Advance environmental justice and ensure the equitable distribution of cooling resources

Map cooling resources such as parks, green spaces, street trees, water bodies and cooling centres. Prioritise improvements in neighbourhoods that face high heat risk but lack adequate cooling resources, thereby narrowing disparities in heat risk between communities. Public spaces should also be made more accessible and barrier-free so that persons with disabilities, older people and people with limited mobility can use shade, cooling facilities and cooling centres on an equal basis.

3. Cool cities through urban design

Wind corridors, block dimensions and open-space layouts, shade trees and planting along pavements, and requirements for green coverage should all be comprehensively reviewed at the urban-design level and translated into specific, enforceable standards rather than remaining broad principles. Design should begin with users’ needs and reflect the cooling, safety and accessibility requirements of people of different ages, physical and mental conditions, and levels of mobility.

4. Enable communities to participate in heat protection and create an inclusive heat adaptation mechanism

Use community participation and local dialogue to identify heat hotspots and improvement needs, combining residents’ experience with local resources to advance community-based heat adaptation. Persons with disabilities and other heat-vulnerable groups often face barriers to public policy discussions because of inaccessible information and spaces, unsuitable communication methods, and inadequate participation mechanisms. Local governments should establish accessible participation processes with multiple forms of communication, ensuring that persons with disabilities and others who are disproportionately affected by heat can meaningfully participate in policy planning, implementation and oversight, and help shape more inclusive urban resilience.

IV. Transformation of Flood-Risk Governance

Will you commit to transforming flood-risk governance and building cities that are safe, resilient and liveable?

Extreme climate conditions are making flood management increasingly difficult. In highly developed urban areas, financial and engineering constraints make further large-scale expansion of drainage systems increasingly impractical. The conventional approach of “draining water away faster” cannot resolve urban pluvial flooding and has also degraded river ecosystems, diminishing natural functions such as energy dissipation and self-purification. Flood-risk governance under extreme climate conditions must therefore change. Cities should use land for multiple purposes, allowing it to detain and store water during heavy rainfall and reduce flood peaks; strengthen household- and community-level disaster prevention and mitigation; help cities and industries become flood-resilient; and conserve and restore rivers in ways that recover waterside and nature-rich spaces. These measures are essential to creating resilient and liveable cities.

1. Expand runoff allocation and increase the capacity of land to detain and store floodwater

Municipal governments should lead cross-departmental “Runoff Allocation Plans” that suppress, disperse and temporarily store runoff and enable low-lying areas to coexist with water. They should systematically identify public spaces such as school grounds, parks, green spaces and large car parks that can incorporate underground storage or micro-topographic design and function as small regional detention basins during intense rainfall. New or renovated roads, pavements and public squares should widely adopt Low Impact Development (LID) measures, including permeable paving and rain gardens, to increase rainwater retention and infiltration. Municipalities should also establish well-designed incentives and local detention subsidies for farmland, farm ponds and underused land near high-risk areas, increasing the landscape’s capacity to accommodate floodwater.

2. Use ecological review to conserve rivers and Nature-based Solutions to restore them

Develop blueprints that work with nature and cultivate local water culture, replacing conventional high-walled, concrete-lined channels and concrete landscaping with high carbon emissions and maintenance costs. Rivers and streams should regain healthy water quality, near-natural forms and ecological vitality. In built-up urban areas, cities should daylight covered waterways, improve water quality and connect surrounding green spaces to recreate blue-green corridors that provide both disaster-risk reduction and urban cooling. In less densely developed areas, ecological review should be expanded to strengthen river conservation, while Nature-based Solutions (NbS) for flood-risk governance should be adopted. Land-policy tools and incentives should restore wetlands and flood-regulation spaces along river corridors. These measures will strengthen climate resilience while creating comfortable, green and liveable environments that improve residents’ quality of life.

3. Build public-private partnerships to help households, communities and industries become flood-resilient

Strengthen public-private disaster-preparedness systems in areas at high risk of flooding. Expand disaster-preparedness education and train a designated proportion of certified disaster-prevention personnel to serve locally. Link community-led measures – including neighbourhood inspections, drainage maintenance and disaster drills – to enhanced subsidy levels and priority access for flood barriers and disaster-mitigation equipment. At the same time, revise urban-design review standards and local building-management ordinances so that flood-resilient design based on flood reference levels, together with Business Continuity Planning (BCP), becomes a mandatory urban-design review condition for residential, commercial and industrial developments in high-risk areas. Provide targeted grants and low-interest loans for flood-resilient retrofits of older buildings occupied by vulnerable groups, combined with policy-supported disaster insurance, so that flooding does not become a disaster.

V. Sustainable Mobility Transformation

Will you commit to establishing a Vision Zero and Net-Zero Transport framework and building a people-centred, sustainable city?

Transport policy shapes the city and affects residents’ safety, health, quality of life and progress towards net zero. Urban and transport planning in Taiwan has long prioritised private motor vehicles, contributing to road crashes, air pollution, carbon emissions and urban heat-island effects, while exposing pedestrians, cyclists, older people, children and persons with disabilities to greater mobility risks. In the face of climate change and a super-aged society, cities need more than piecemeal transport improvements. They need systemic spatial redesign and a comprehensive mobility transition that reallocates road space and gives priority to safe, equitable and low-carbon modes of travel, creating liveable and sustainable cities that also uphold intergenerational equity.

1. Enact a Vision Zero and Net-Zero Transport Ordinance and establish cross-departmental governance

Use local legislation to establish a sustainable transport governance framework. Cross-departmental implementation of the dual transition towards Vision Zero and net-zero transport should be coordinated at deputy-mayor level, and both zero traffic deaths and net-zero transport should be made core municipal objectives. Establish a Sustainable Transport Transition Fund, map relevant funding sources from central to local government, and create an investment model for the sustainable mobility transition encompassing legal authority, policy instruments and infrastructure. Complete safe walking environments and cycleways serving both public transport and active mobility facilities, establish a review mechanism involving relevant stakeholders, and enable citizens, experts and vulnerable road users to participate and collaborate in decision-making.

2. Reallocate road space and create a safe, continuous active-mobility network

Reallocate road space to prioritise walking, cycling and other forms of active mobility. Systematically develop physically separated pavements and cycleways, review mixed lanes shared by motorcycles and non-motorised vehicles as well as excessively wide traffic lanes, and prioritise safe networks around public transport stations and schools. The result should be a continuous, accessible and shaded environment that supports safe and comfortable walking and cycling.

3. Develop liveable streets and build climate-resilient cities

Differentiate through-roads from local streets according to their function. Establish traffic-calmed areas around residential neighbourhoods, schools and medical facilities, using physical traffic-calming measures and low-speed design. Combine permeable paving, street trees and green space to improve the urban thermal environment. At the same time, advance Transit-Oriented Development (TOD), integrate social housing more closely with public transport, and reduce travel demand and carbon emissions.

4. Manage the overall volume and use of vehicles to accelerate the low-carbon mobility transition

Use parking management, low-emission transport zones and broader vehicle policies to guide the reasonable use of private vehicles. Gradually reduce on-street parking and repurpose the space for walking, greenery and cycling infrastructure. Restrict high-polluting vehicles in densely populated areas, accelerate the retirement of highly polluting fossil-fuel vehicles, and expand support for public transport, electric mobility and active mobility to encourage modal shift and improve air quality.

5. Create an inclusive transport environment and safeguard mobility for all

Introduce green-commuting incentives for government agencies and businesses, encouraging public transport, flexible working hours and remote work to reduce peak-hour travel demand. Implement accessible and inclusive street design, improve conditions for wheelchair users, people with pushchairs and people with visual impairments, and expand accessible taxis, paratransit services and demand-responsive transport. These measures should safeguard the fundamental mobility rights of older people and vulnerable groups.

 

 

Initiating Organisations

This policy pledge was jointly initiated by the following nine civil society organisations:

• Green Citizens’ Action Alliance (GCAA)
• Taiwan Climate Action Network (TCAN)
• Taiwan Environment & Planning Association (TE&P)
• Vision Zero Taiwan
• Taiwan Rivers Network Association
• Environmental Rights Foundation (ERF)
• Citizen of the Earth, Taiwan (CET)
• Homemakers United Foundation (HUF)
• Taiwan Federation of Independent Living Centers for Persons with Disabilities