The eighth global forum on urban resilience and adaptation was held in Bonn, German this year. Men-Yen Li, Secretary General of Tainan city Government, and Hsien-Wei Lee, Director of Environmental Protection Bureau, participated in the event. They shared Tainan’s experiences in topics such as climate change, dengue fever prevention, low-carbon care and the air pollution warning system. The talk was well-received by the representatives and scholars present who were highly interested in these issues.
The forum, which took place between May 4 and 6 in Bonn, Germany, was organized by the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI). ICLEI has been helping cities to collaborate with each other, and is also the organizer for the past seven annual forums. A total of 500 individuals from 50 local governments around the world took part in the event this year. ICLEI emphasized that climate change affects everyone on this planet and cities play a major role in building a resilient and adaptive environment.
This year, the theme was disaster prevention and climate change adaptation. The forum had focused discussions on the health risks brought about by thermal updraft, vectors and air pollution caused by climate change and how to prevent them. And Secretary General Li’s talk, titled “Scientific Strategies to Control the Dengue Outbreak and Low-carbon Healthcare in Tainan City, Taiwan”, was well-received by the audience.
In his talk, Li explained that global warming, torrential rains, two large typhoons which brought in massive rainfall, and a new type of imported dengue virus were the four main factors which led to the dengue fever outbreak in 2015. To combat the epidemic, Tainan City Government set down two goals: “low dengue case numbers, low mortality rate” and “healthy cities and beautiful homes”, and launched eight major strategies. Through the joint efforts of the government and the citizens, Tainan was able to eventually control the outbreak.
Josh Karliner, the President of Health Care Without Harm, expressed that climate change may trigger the biggest health threat to the world population, and we are already seeing some impact now. During the event which serves as a platform for countries around the world to share their experiences, Secretary General Li talked about Tainan’s case: by coordinating public and private sectors, integrating resources, and setting up a comprehensive strategy plan, Tainan managed to establish a disease prevention network and successfully reduced the number of dengue fever cases from more than 20,000 to only 2 cases. Li stressed that in addition to collaborations between different organizations and units, preventing imported cases of dengue fever is also crucial to disease prevention. Li also answered questions concerning Tainan's air pollution monitoring and warning system and dengue fever prevention during panel discussion.
Secretary General Li remarked that this international forum was an opportunity for the world to recognize Tainan's dedication and results on dengue fever prevention, carbon reduction and climate change. The event also provided a great platform for Tainan officials to interact and exchange information on health risks issues related to climate change with other international city mayors and representatives.
Low-Carbon-City Project Office
Environmental Protection Bureau of Tainan City Government
Phone：06-2686751 #380
Contact：Rose Chu
Fig1. Secretary General Li shared Tainan’s experience on dengue fever prevention at the global forum.
Fig2. Secretary General Li shared Tainan’s experience on implementing the warning system for outdoor air quality at the global forum.
Fig3. Secretary General Men-Yen Li (second from left), Director Hsien-Wei Lee (far right), Secretary General of Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI) Gino Van Begin (second from right) and Section Chief Hsin-Fen Chen(far left)
Fig 4. Secretary General Men-Yen Li (left), Director Hsien-Wei Lee (right) and Mayor of Bonn, Ashok Sridharan (center).