Taiwan is at a critical juncture today: how should Taiwan transform into the future? While it is popular opinion that Taiwan is undergoing economic stagnation, what is less often discussed is the need for Taiwan to undergo industrial and social transformation. Labor rights, environmental issues and inequality are issues that Taiwan is being confronted with, on top of the urgent need for an industrial shakeup, and the signs are pointing to the fact that if Taiwan does not take affirmative steps to address these issues, Taiwan will be faced with a systemic collapse. On top of that, like in other countries, climate risks have evolved to be highly intertwined with all sectors of Taiwan's society, with far-reaching social and economic implications.

The global climate and energy challenges that we face today are unprecedented and require systemic transformation if Taiwan is to successfully transit. Past energy transition endeavors have focused on the technical aspects but have neglected how society can be involved. Therefore, a comprehensive transformational pathway is required, such as one recommended by the German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU), which has proposed adopting a proactive and participatory model towards achieving a fossil-free future by 2050.

Using WBGU's report as guidance, the Risk Society and Policy Research Center (RSPRC) has therefore spent the last three years using scientific research and evidence to craft out long-term strategies and policy recommendations that Taiwan needs to adopt in its energy transition moving forward. Taiwan needs to adopt forward-thinking and long-term strategies that will result in systemic changes, and this is what our report aims to do: innovative governance and pathways, and new breakthrough paradigms are therefore necessary to drive Taiwan's social transformation in a holistic manner. Using energy transition as a starting point, we highlight the industrial, social and political transformations that Taiwan needs to urgently undergo to prepare Taiwan for the fourth industrial revolution, and to bring Taiwan out of its stagnating high-carbon economic model into one which is based on constructing a new sustainable social contract.