2026-07-16
When heat and geopolitics collide: Taiwan and the UK confront a double emergency As London endured record-breaking temperatures, a forum held during London Climate Action Week offered an immediate reminder of the crisis under discussion. Trains were disrupted, buildings overheated and several events were moved online or cancelled. Climate adaptation was no longer an abstract policy debate; it was unfolding outside the meeting room. Taiwan Climate Action Network (TCAN) convened “The Dual Climate and Energy Emergency: Experiences from Taiwan and the UK” on 25 June, bringing together researchers, campaigners and policy specialists to examine two increasingly connected threats: geopolitical disruption to energy supplies and the mounting consequences of extreme heat. It was the first formal London Climate Action Week event organised by a Taiwanese environmental advocacy group. The event formed part of LCAW’s largest edition to date, which attracted more than 100,000 participants from over 100 countries and included more […]
2025-09-27
Organized by the Global Taiwan Institute Event Summary: On September 25, 2025, the Global Taiwan Institute (GTI) hosted a seminar entitled “Taiwan’s Energy Resilience: Security, Innovation, and Policy.” The discussion featured four speakers: Chia-Wei Chao, Research Director at the Taiwan Climate Action Network (台灣氣候行動網絡); Kayla Orta, Non-resident Fellow at the Indo-Pacific Initiative at the Atlantic Council; Joseph Webster, a Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Center; and Chia-Shen Tsai, Non-Resident Fellow at Taiwan’s Research Institute for Democracy, Society, and Emerging Technology (DSET). GTI Programs Coordinator Ben Levine moderated the event. Chia-Wei Chao outlined how Taiwan’s energy transition has entered a “2.0” phase that is increasingly driven by security and resilience. He stressed that Taiwan remains heavily dependent on energy imports and can sustain its supply for only about two weeks in a crisis, with semiconductors alone consuming over half of the nation’s electricity. While renewable energy capacity has tripled […]
2025-05-21
In Taiwan, concerns about energy security centre on its heavy dependence on thermal power generated from imported fossil fuels, which is often described as the Achilles’ Heel in its security. According to statistics from the Energy Administration, in 2024, 39.3% of the electricity generation was from coal-fired, and 42.4% was from liquefied natural gas (LNG), all of which is imported. Renewables account for 11.6% of the share. Meanwhile, the government had set an energy transition target to have an energy mix containing 50% natural gas, 30% coal, and 20% renewables by 2025, making LNG the largest component of the energy portfolio. In response to this goal, the government plans to increase LNG reserves from the current 11-day supply to 14 days by 2027. However, Taiwan’s heavy reliance on LNG has emerged as a politically contentious issue, particularly in light of concerns that such dependence increases the nation’s vulnerability to price volatility driven […]
