Climate Diplomacy

Its capacity to participate in multilateral organizations is severely constrained, and the implications of the cross-strait tension are felt in Taiwan’s participation in global climate action initiatives too. [...] Though the focus of this report is to elucidate the interrelation of the diplomatic situation and climate action in Taiwan, the shift to natural gas in Asian markets have clear implications for Canadian natural gas producers. [...] Taiwan is a “unique case of a nation that must conduct public diplomacy not only as a means of promotion, but also as a means for ensuring its diplomatic survival and access to the international arena.”3 The “polylateral” strategy of engagement with NGOs and multilateral institutions that Rockower describes extends fittingly to Taiwan’s UNFCCC goals. [...] Its bid for membership in 2007 was rejected, its Secretariat citing the 1971 UN General Assembly Resolution that gave the representative status in the UN.4 Taiwan seeks to create its own international space in its engagement with IGOs, both in terms of membership and functional participation.5 These efforts serve to reinforce Taiwan’s usual two-fold approach to diplomacy: 1) building informal, bil [...] Thus, its “push for substantial participation in the global framework to combat the impact of climate change,”6 works to carry out its global responsibilities and to further Taiwan’s agency in the international space.