Assessing the political impact of UN Sustainable Development Goals on the central government of Taiwan

Abstract

Although Taiwan is not a member of the UN, it has been actively involved in sustainable development. It has issued two Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs), and Taiwan’s National Council for Sustainable Development (NCSD) has also formulated Taiwan’s version of the Sustainable Development Goals (T-SDGs). A more detailed analysis of the political impact of the UN-SDGs is necessary to examine the cause-and-effect relationships of whether the UN-SDGs have an impact at the national level. The thesis adopts a single case study design and incorporates qualitative content analysis to analyze 41 official documents and 22 interview transcripts. The thesis also analyzes the similarities and differences between the UN-SDGs and T-SDGs. The research results include three aspects. Firstly, regarding the factors that affect the formulation of T-SDGs, the research found that Taiwan referred to the framework of UN-SDGs in the process of formulating T-SDGs, but also added content that is consistent with its own national conditions. Influencing factors include Taiwan’s international status, domestic political environment and existing policy framework. Secondly, the thesis finds the institutional and normative changes in the Taiwan government's sustainable development since the launch of the UN-SDGs. NCSD and the Legislative Yuan have obviously experienced institutional changes due to UN-SDGs. For changes in a single policy and a single department, it is difficult to clarify the impact of UN-SDGs. Finally, UN-SDGs have an impact on Taiwan through diplomatic and economic mechanisms. Especially under Tsai Ing-wen’s steady fast diplomatic strategy, Taiwan conducts diplomatic activities through UN-SDGs. The thesis expands the understanding of the impact of the UN-SDGs at the national level through an in-depth analysis of the unique case of Taiwan as a non-UN member state.