The “2025 APEC Workshop on Enhancing Net-Zero Carbon Emission Goals through Circular Agriculture: Best Practices and Innovations” opened at the InterContinental Kaohsiung hotel on September 23. Over 100 representatives of industry, government, and academia from 16 APEC member economies are attending this three-day event. The Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) has arranged for attendees to visit circular agriculture demonstration sites in Taiwan to see how Taiwan uses circular agriculture to promote reduction of carbon emissions, strengthen rural resilience, ensure food security, and promote sustainable agricultural development.

The MOA points out that Taiwan has won comprehensive support from APEC members for hosting this Workshop, and has received APEC funds to hold this event, indicating a high level of approbation from the international community for Taiwan’s achievements in the promotion of circular agriculture and sustainable food systems. The theme of this meeting is the core circular agriculture strategies of “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Reject,” and it covers topics including emerging trends in circular agriculture, interministerial cooperation models, carbon trading, carbon reduction investment mechanisms, and market incentives. During the Workshop APEC member economies including Japan, New Zealand, Thailand, and Vietnam are sharing their practical experiences with carbon reduction technologies and circular agriculture strategies, facilitating collective exploration by APEC members of how to accelerate the implementation of, and collaboration in, net-zero circular agriculture in the Asia-Pacific region.

The MOA explains that it has arranged for attendees at the Workshop to visit venues in the Kaohsiung-Pingtung area with biogas power generation, application of circular animal feed, and transformation of residual crop resources into green energy or biomass materials. These visits will enable APEC members to understand Taiwan’s current situation with respect to the promotion of circular agriculture and the level of development of technology for related industries. The hope is to encourage further regional cooperation and promote exports of relevant technologies and equipment from Taiwan.

The MOA emphasizes that circular agriculture is a key strategy for all countries in dealing with the challenges of climate change and food security. Taiwan is continuing to promote strategies including “net-zero carbon emissions” and “circular agriculture” and combining these with innovative technology and cross-domain integration to proactively turn residual agricultural resources into high value-added products. In the future Taiwan will continue to work through international organizations such as APEC to deepen technical collaboration and policy dialogues, and we will work hand in hand with the Asia-Pacific region to collectively promote net-zero and circular agriculture operating systems, thereby making a contribution to global food security and sustainability.

Delegates of APEC member economies at the “2025 APEC Workshop on Enhancing Net-Zero Carbon Emission Goals through Circular Agriculture: Best Practices and Innovations,” hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA).

Online delegates of APEC member economies at the MOA’s “2025 APEC Workshop on Enhancing Net-Zero Carbon Emission Goals through Circular Agriculture.”

Presentation by a New Zealand expert at the MOA’s “2025 APEC Workshop on Enhancing Net-Zero Carbon Emission Goals through Circular Agriculture.”

Q&A with a Vietnamese expert at the MOA’s “2025 APEC Workshop on Enhancing Net-Zero Carbon Emission Goals through Circular Agriculture.”