The government says it plans to further reduce carbon emissions to reflect

the island's commitment to net zero.

Speaking at the third meeting of the Presidential Office's climate change

committee, President Lai Ching-te announced what he called the government's

"more ambitious ( 有雄心的) carbon reduction targets."

According to Lai, his administration will work to reduce greenhouse gas

emissions by between 26 and 30-per cent by 2030 compared to 2005 levels.

Lai told the committee that the revised reductions mean Taiwan's carbon

emissions should be reduced between 30 and 34-per cent by 2032.

The president went on to say it's crucial for the people of Taiwan to take

more active steps in fulfilling a responsibilities to the international

community.

The Taiwan I-C-D-F foreign aid agency has announced that's accepting

applications for its annual volunteer program that provides humanitarian and

other assistance to the nation's diplomatic allies and less-developed

countries.

The agency is funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

And it says it will recruit 44 volunteers to work in areas such as

information technology, public health, veterinary science, nutritional

science, nursing, health education, mental health and epidemiological

(流行病學的) statistics.

Taiwanese nationals aged 20 or above are eligible (有資格的) to apply.

Those selected will be deployed to one of 11 countries in the Asia Pacific,

the Caribbean, Africa, and Central and South America for six months to a

year, it added.

The deadline for all applications is February 10.

The Central Weather Administration says low temperatures and rain can be

expected ahead of Lunar New Year's Day next Wednesday.

A strong continental cold air mass is forecast to approach Taiwan on Monday -

sending the mercury down to below 10 degrees in some areas.

The cold front is forecast to be at strongest on Lunar New Year's Eve and

into Lunar New Year's Day - when parts of the north and east could see lows

of 9-degrees.

Other area will see lows of between 12 and 14-degrees next Tuesday and

Wednesday.

The weather administration says snow is also likely to fall at elevations

over 2,000-meters in the north and east.

The cold front is expected to weaken from next Thursday and temperatures

rebound.

However, another cold front is expected to approach the island on the second

to last day of the nine-day Lunar New Year holiday - once again bringing down

temperatures in the north and east.

US President Donald Trump will today visit North Carolina and California, two

American states recently ravaged (摧殘) by natural disasters.

Benji Hyer reports.

The United Nations Children's Fund says over 200 million children had their

schooling interrupted last year because of heatwaves, cyclones, flooding and

other extreme weather.

UNICEF says it amounted to one in seven school-going children across the

world being kept out of class at some point in 2024 because of climate

crises.

The new UNICEF report released today also outlines (概述) how some countries

saw hundreds of their schools destroyed, with low-income nations in Asia and

sub-Saharan Africa hit especially hard.

But while deadly floods and cyclones hit the world in 2024, UNICEF says

heatwaves were “the predominant climate hazard shuttering schools last

year."

That was the I.C.R.T. EZ News, I'm _____.

--

Hosting provided by SoundOn