President Lai launches national heat governance system to strengthen wave protection and insurance

President William Lai Ching-te issued an executive order today, the 22nd, to establish a "National High-Temperature Governance System" to address the increasing frequency of extreme heat waves caused by climate change in recent years. Statistics from the Central Weather Administration indicate that the average high temperature across the island has risen by more than one degree Celsius over the past decade, while the duration and intensity of summer heat waves have also increased, significantly impacting public health and economic activities. Consequently, the government has elevated high-temperature protection to the national level, aiming to reduce heat-related illnesses and mortality through institutionalized early warning systems, information dissemination, and resource integration.

In terms of specific measures, President Lai instructed relevant ministries and commissions to evaluate expanding current high-temperature warning and insurance services from pilot programs limited to certain counties and cities to all administrative districts nationwide. This initiative will be coordinated by the Executive Yuan’s Climate Change Committee, which will work with insurance companies, local governments, and labor authorities to design standardized insurance policies covering the agricultural, fisheries, manufacturing, and service sectors. This will ensure that workers and businesses suffering from heat-related injuries can receive immediate economic compensation, thereby reducing medical expenses and costs associated with work stoppages.

For outdoor operations in manufacturing, construction, road works, and food delivery, the government will establish a tiered mechanism for assessing heat hazard risks. Based on environmental temperature, humidity, working hours, and the deployment of protective equipment, risks will be categorized into low, medium, and high levels, with corresponding cooling, rest, and protective measures mandated. For instance, construction sites classified as high-risk must provide mobile cooling equipment, enforce mandatory periodic breaks, and ensure an adequate supply of drinking water. Regulatory authorities will conduct regular spot checks to ensure compliance and safeguard worker safety.

Furthermore, President Lai has required that high-temperature protection be incorporated into regulations governing public works and government procurement. Going forward, all central and local public infrastructure projects must consider heat protection needs from the design phase, including scheduling work hours for construction personnel and arranging on-site shading and cooling facilities. Bidding documents must explicitly include protection plans that comply with the established heat hazard risk levels. This move not only enhances the demonstrative effect of the public sector but also compels private contractors to elevate safety standards, fostering a consensus on heat prevention across the entire industrial chain.

The promotion of this policy also reflects the government’s broader strategic layout for climate adaptation. Since 2022, the Executive Yuan has successively released the "Climate Change Response Action Plan" and the "Heat Wave Protection Guidelines." However, due to fragmented execution and uneven resource allocation, the actual results have been limited. By centering on a national-level governance system and integrating insurance, early warning, labor safety, and procurement systems, the government intends to build a heat prevention mechanism that is horizontally integrated and vertically coherent, laying an institutional foundation for future, more severe climate challenges.

Overall, expanding high-temperature insurance and incorporating protection standards into public works regulations will directly enhance workers’ sense of security and health protection in high-temperature environments, while simultaneously reducing the risks of work stoppages and compensation claims for businesses due to heat injuries. If successfully implemented, this initiative will serve as a model case for Taiwan in the field of global climate change adaptation, providing a governance framework for other tropical and subtropical countries to emulate. (Source: Central News Agency)