New Taipei City Releases 2025 VLR　Advancing Daily Sustainability and Shaping a New Model for Urban Resilience

New Taipei Showcases Its Evolving Sustainability Vision on the Global Stage at COP30
As the 30th UN Climate Change Conference (COP30) convenes in Belém, Brazil from 10–21 November, drawing heads of state, climate negotiators, and international experts to address the escalating global climate crisis, New Taipei City has released its 2025 Voluntary Local Review (VLR). Commissioned to the Plan b team, the report reaffirms the city's alignment with the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and highlights New Taipei's progress across three priority areas: carbon reduction, energy transition, and civic engagement—underscoring the city's growing role in global climate governance.

Mayor Hou Yu-ih presided over the 2025 New Taipei City VLR Press Conference, unveiling the city's first VLR in four years. The event spotlighted everyday collaborative governance efforts featured in the report, including contributions from the Water Environment Patrol Team, the Chi Po-lin Foundation, and the Huangshi Market Self-Governance Association. Their initiatives exemplify New Taipei's public-private partnership model, which seeks to embed sustainability into residents' daily lives and advance the city's vision of a safe, resilient, and thriving urban environment.

Beyond presenting the latest VLR findings and sustainability milestones, the event emphasized the themes of "everyday action" and "collaboration." Report partners—Insight Post Co., Ltd. and Ours Relations Co., Ltd.—joined departmental leaders in completing a symbolic "Sustainability Action Mosaic" representing the collective effort to "Plant the Future of Sustainable New Taipei." The gesture reaffirmed the city's commitment to inclusiveness and its principle of "leaving no one behind," illustrating a comprehensive and people-centered vision for a sustainable and livable New Taipei.

New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi

A Dedicated Chapter on Sustainability: People-Centered Governance Aligned with 2030 Climate Goals
Building on the frameworks set forth in 2019, which emphasized climate resilience, and in 2021, which focused on navigating a "new normal," New Taipei City's 2025 sustainability blueprint centers on the theme: "Sustainability Every Day, Tangible Progress Everywhere, and a City of Livability and Opportunity." The report returns sustainability to the realm of everyday life, reframing a people-centered vision of the city through the lens of real-world experiences—from safe and inclusive living environments, to economic opportunity, to low-carbon lifestyles—demonstrating the results of cross-sector governance and broad civic participation.

The report also introduces, for the first time, a dedicated "Chief Sustainability Officer" chapter. By formalizing this institutional role, New Taipei integrates resources across departments, advances the implementation of the Voluntary Local Review (VLR), and strengthens alignment with global Voluntary Subnational Review (VSR) mechanisms. This structure builds a governance network that connects city-level efforts with regional sustainability action. Through evidence-based decision-making and indicator-driven management, the city is expanding sustainability efforts from "points," to "lines," and ultimately to a city-wide "network," positioning local government as a pivotal driver of climate action.

The 2025 VLR features 53 concrete case studies and 82 sustainability indicators, such as the "4+1 Safe Produce Program" and "Revitalizing Public Markets," each anchored in community-level initiatives that link food and agriculture education, circular economy practices, and neighborhood innovation. Designed in a magazine-style layout that blends data with visual storytelling, the report transforms complex sustainability concepts into accessible knowledge—advancing the goal of "sustainability education for all" and ensuring that every resident can understand and engage with the city's long-term vision.

Cross-Sector Governance Leadership: Demonstrating the Everyday Impact of Collaborative Action
Beyond adopting an everyday perspective in its narrative, this year's report places "cross-sector collaboration" at its core and, for the first time, applies a Voluntary Subnational Review (VSR) framework to compile the VLR. New Taipei City once again partnered with the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), employing a cross-impact matrix and a seven-point scale to assess synergies and trade-offs among policy objectives across government departments. This systems-thinking approach not only evaluates outcomes but also prioritizes interventions and identifies optimal pathways for interdepartmental cooperation, aligning local actions more closely with international governance structures.

Consistent with the 2021 life-centric narrative, the report highlights cross-sector case studies such as the River Governance Platform, which has improved water quality and transformed previously maligned "polluted ditches" into accessible waterfront spaces—tangible changes that residents can directly experience. Another example is New Taipei's pre-hospital ECMO activation mechanism, developed jointly with neighboring cities through coordinated消防 (fire services), medical, and emergency response systems, which has successfully saved 15 lives. Additionally, New Taipei, in partnership with Taipei, Keelung, and Taoyuan, established a regional collaboration platform that integrates transportation, industry, and cultural resources to build a cohesive and sustainable metropolitan living network.

Sustainability action is never a solitary endeavor. New Taipei City's efforts—rooted in shared goals and strengthened through public-private partnerships—continue to enhance everyday life for residents: smoother transportation, more efficient disaster response, and shared cultural resources. Through these cross-city collaborations, New Taipei is elevating the impact of everyday sustainability across Taiwan.