The European Economic and Trade
Office (EETO), Environmental Protection Administration (EPA), Ministry of
Foreign Affairs (MOFA), the EU Member States offices in Taiwan, and the EU
Centre in Taiwan jointly cleaned the Wanlin beachside in New Taipei City. Led
by the EU Representative Filip Grzegorzewski, EPA Minister Chang Tzi-Chin,
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Harry Tseng, and Representatives and Deputy
Representatives of the EU Member States in Taiwan, the event gathered nearly
200 staff and family members of the European and Taiwanese offices, and
collected over 440 kg of waste. This year, due to the COVID19 pandemic, Taiwan
was among the very few places where the EU delegations worldwide could host a
physical cleanup event.
Ocean is a source of life, a
cradle of biodiversity, and it acts as a climate regulator. The EU is
determined in promoting a healthy and sustainable ocean, said the EETO Head
Filip Grzegorzewski. Not only does it serve the EU’s response to the United
Nation’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals on the oceans (SDG 14), it is in
line with the EU Green Deal – the EU’s roadmap to achieve climate neutral in
2050. The European Union will continue to work with global partners to promote
sustainable international ocean governance, said Grzegorzewski.
Every year from September to
November, around the time of the International Coastal Cleanup Day (third
Saturday in September), the EU mobilises its delegations around the world to
organise beach cleanup or river cleanup activities. In 2019, over 40,000
volunteers joined the near-80 delegations worldwide in their cleanup actions.
This year, due to the pandemic, Taiwan was among the two-dozen places in the
world that could organise a physical event.
Meanwhile, the European Chamber
of Commerce Taiwan (ECCT) and the Taipei European School (TES) also cleaned the
beach at Baishawan the same morning. The event was attended by over 400 people
and collected 600 kg of waste. Mr. Grzegorzewski was very delighted to see the
European community in Taiwan actively participating in environmental
initiatives. He also called on every one to combat marine waste from the source
- by using less and recycling more - for every small individual step taken collectively
would become a big step for the earth.
The 13 EU Member States present
today were Austria, Belgium, Czech
Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Poland,
Slovakia, and Spain.