Taiwan's COP29 War Room

TAIPEI (Reuters) – Taiwan has set up a "war room" to monitor the live stream of next week's COP29 climate summit, as it is not permitted to attend for political reasons, announced Environment Minister Peng Chi-ming on Friday.

Democratically-governed Taiwan is excluded from most international organizations due to objections from China, which claims the island as its territory and asserts its right to represent it internationally. This stance deeply frustrates Taipei's government.

In a press briefing with foreign media at his ministry in Taipei, Minister Peng expressed disappointment that Taiwan, a significant semiconductor producer with its own climate concerns, could not take part officially in the summit slated for Azerbaijan's capital Baku.

> “We cannot join the negotiations, which I think is a pity for us,” he stated.

Peng, a trained meteorologist who has participated in 11 previous COP meetings, added, “I am not allowed to join because of political reasons. But we are a good friend of global society. I will not bother them because I want to join.”

While some lower-level officials and think tank members from Taiwan will attend, the ministry will view the summit from a designated conference room.

> “Here we will have a war room,” Peng stated. “From noon to night we will have people watching all of it.”

Taiwan aims to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. President Lai Ching-te has established a climate change response committee to formulate government plans. Peng noted that with rising global temperatures, Taiwan can expect stronger typhoons, which could result in either devastating storms or a lack thereof, detrimental to reservoir levels.

In 2021, Taiwan experienced its worst drought ever after no typhoons impacted the island the previous year.

> “Taiwan both loves and hates typhoons,” remarked the minister.