Building Resilience Through Technology: A New Path for Taiwan's Energy Tech Diplomacy

As global carbon border adjustments accelerate and supply chains are reshaped, energy and digitalization have become the twin engines of competitiveness for cities and industries alike. James Chiao, Chairman of the Taiwan Smart Solutions Association, has traveled from North America and New York to Europe and the Middle East, observing diverse models of urban governance. "It's no longer about whether we should decarbonize," he says firmly. "The real question is how to turn technology into resilience. What truly matters is how environmental change impacts humanity and ecosystems. The core value of a smart city lies in using technology to strengthen both urban and corporate resilience in the face of climate change—not just in counting carbon reductions."

During the Taiwan–Poland B2B meetings, Chiao highlighted Taiwan's strengths in smart solutions. He thinks resilience is a public capability that can be transacted and collaboratively built. It enables cities to convert the intangible competencies that never appear in project blueprints into exportable solution assets.

From Climate Change to Urban Resilience: Turning Abstractions into Diplomacy

Chiao recalls his early experience in New York, where his climate change advocacy began in the advertising industry. He notes that public discourse often reduces the issue to a simple equation between carbon emissions and rising temperatures. "Yes, global temperatures are increasing," he says, "but if we limit the conversation to that linear relationship, we miss the deeper social and ecological pressures at play."

Studies worldwide show that when surface temperatures rise between 1.5 and 2°C, ecosystems, water systems, and industrial supply chains undergo major disruptions. "We can't keep believing that calculating carbon numbers to the decimal point will guarantee our safety," Chiao warns.