OPINION:
The 23rd session of the Conference of Parties (COP23) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which will take place next month in Bonn, Germany, is capturing worldwide attention. COP23 is the latest in the series of Conference of Parties meetings that are signatory to the Kyoto Protocol, an international treaty through which member states commit to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.
When the world meets in Bonn in November, the 23 million people of Taiwan will be without a voice in those talks. Despite this, the country will continue its determined push to combat climate change for the sake of Taiwan and the international community. Such commitment is just the kind the UNFCCC needs. Climate change is a global issue that knows no borders. It requires not just national, but global solutions.
If UNFCCC continues to exclude Taiwan from membership, what message does it send to the rest of the world? Climate change concerns all humans and Taiwan should not be excluded from the efforts to fight it. Let Taiwan join in climate-change talks so that it can contribute to climate-change dialogue on the global stage.
KENT WANG
Advisory commissioner
Overseas Community Affairs Council of Republic of China (Taiwan) in the United States
Potomac Falls, Va.
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