Climate Change Administration

Achieving Taiwan’s goal of net-zero emissions by 2050 will require more than top-down government policies, it will also depend on strong, bottom-up action led by local communities. On June 22, the Ministry of Environment (MOENV) hosted a forum titled “Building an Ecosystem for Net-Zero Communities: Community-Driven Action and the Development of Intermediary Organizations” to show the initiative’s progress and outcomes.

At the forum, the National Association for the Promotion of Community Universities (NAPCU) and 15 pioneering local organizations from across Taiwan — representing low-carbon communities, regional revitalization initiatives, and civil society groups — presented an initial draft of the “Guidelines for Community-Driven Action and the Development of Intermediary Organizations.” The guidelines are intended to strengthen the ability of intermediary organizations to connect government policy with local needs, helping turn community-driven action into a practical and innovative pathway to net-zero transition.

Five Local Pillars for Community-Driven Net Zero: Strengthening Public–Private Collaboration through Intermediary Organizations and New Guidelines

The MOENV stated that the government has identified five local pillars to support community-driven net-zero action: “Energy Independence and System Resilience,” “Circular Economy and Regional Revitalization,” “Local Carbon Reduction and Carbon Sink Benefits,” “Sustainable Production and Livelihood Support,” and “Talent Transition and Community Networks.”

To translate net-zero policy into local action, the MOENV began working with 15 local groups as intermediary organizations in 2025. Drawing on their strengths in communication and knowledge translation, these organizations help connect public- and private-sector resources. At the heart of the forum was the presentation of the initial draft of the guidelines by NAPCU Secretary-General Yang Chih-pin. The draft was developed collaboratively by the 15 participating groups over the past year.

The guidelines consist of seven chapters. The first three explain how community-driven action fits within the broader policy framework, describe the different levels of intermediary networks, and outline five core functions of intermediary organizations. Chapter 4 brings together the local experiences of different organizations, distilling their key characteristics into several distinct models of action. Chapter 5 offers five diagnostic tools, including stakeholder mapping. Chapters 6 and 7 propose a multi-track framework for developing net-zero talent and recommend the establishment of an interministerial coordination platform.

Government and Civil Society Deepen Dialogue to Expand the Impact of Community-Driven Action

The forum also featured a series of thematic panel discussions. The opening session brought together Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Chien-Hsin Lai (賴建信）, Ministry of Agriculture Director-General Chiao-Lian Tsai (蔡巧蓮), National Development Council Director Fu-Lin Chang（張富林, and scholars Sue-Ching Jou (周素卿, Li-Ya Chang (張力亞), and Wen-Jer Chang (張文哲).

During the discussion, Associate Professor Li-Ya Chang grouped intermediary organizations into four types according to their depth of subject-matter expertise and level of cross-sector collaboration. Deputy Minister Lai emphasized that the Ministry of Economic Affairs would continue working with intermediary organizations to develop a “five-layer cake” model for building local capacity. The model is intended to channel central government resources more effectively to local communities.

The afternoon program was moderated by scholars Pei-Hui Tsai (蔡培慧)and Pei-Wen Lu (盧沛文). A session on “Community-Based Systems for Developing Diverse Green-Collar Talent” featured practitioners from the Taiwan Homemakers United Consumers Co-op (台灣主婦聯盟生活消費合作社), who shared their work on waste reduction and making full use of food ingredients; Jinhua Community (台南金華社區), which focuses on low-carbon urban living, community resilience, and disaster preparedness; Toucheng Leisure Farm (宜蘭頭城農場), which promotes sustainable tourism and ecological conservation; and Weixun Farm (雲林微醺農場), which works on smart farming and agrivoltaics. Together, these initiatives illustrated the diverse roles that green-collar professionals can play in local communities.

A second session, “Net-Zero Transition and Community Adaptation,” brought together Tze-luen Lin (林子倫), Deputy Executive Director of the Executive Yuan’s Office of Energy and Carbon Reduction; Ken-Mu Chang (張根穆), Deputy Director-General of the Climate Change Administration; and scholars Shih-Chun Lung (龍世俊) and Chi-Chung Chen (陳吉仲). The panel discussed how bottom-up action could help communities address challenges in the energy transition and agricultural sector while laying the foundations for a strong and lasting local capacity-building system.

The MOENV emphasized that public–private collaboration will be indispensable in responding to climate change. The draft guidelines and practical experiences shared at the forum highlighted the expertise, commitment, and strong grassroots momentum of the 15 pioneering local teams and Taiwan’s civil society more broadly.

The MOENV will publish the guidelines once they are finalized. It will also continue to deepen partnerships through interministerial collaboration, broaden the impact of community-driven action, and gradually build a resilient and sustainable ecosystem for net-zero communities.