October 26, 2016
Songshan Cultural and Creative Park, Taipei
AIT Official Text #: OT-1621E
Minister Lee, Secretary General Chang, distinguished guests and colleagues, good morning. It’s a pleasure to be here at the Fourth International Conference on Sustainable Materials Management. I am delighted that colleagues from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and San Francisco Department of the Environment are here to show their strong support for Taiwan and its international partnerships in this area.
The United States is proud to continue our cooperation with Taiwan through the International Environmental Partnership, or IEP. The U.S. EPA, Taiwan EPA, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs launched IEP in 2014 during EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy’s visit to Taiwan. This partnership has created a platform for the United States and Taiwan to jointly provide technical assistance and pursue cooperative efforts with countries across Asia and around the world.
IEP has grown dramatically since its inception, and is a clear demonstration of Taiwan’s leadership on environmental issues that matter to the entire world. Today’s event is both a sign of what we have accomplished together as well as the start of a promising new chapter in our cooperation. This is the first IEP event related to sustainable materials management.
Too often around the world many items that could be recycled end up in landfills instead. Finding new and innovative ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle will not only improve the land we live on, the water we drink, and the air we breathe, it will also help conserve our natural resources, create new jobs and new industries, and reduce the amount of harmful emissions that contribute to climate change and harm public health.
Thank you all for your contributions to this important initiative. I wish you a productive conference.
