With oil prices and inflation on the increase, the president, the premier and other officials are trying to set good examples by cutting costs and leading simpler lives. There is no doubt this is aimed at encouraging Taiwanese to cut down on energy consumption to help improve the environment and overcome the tough economic times the nation is facing. Different ministries have either formally or informally announced various policies aimed at improving the environment and boosting the economy. One policy worthy of closer investigation was recently announced by the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA), which involves planting trees in China.
The EPA is considering delaying the introduction of the proposed energy tax to avoid making things harder for Taiwanese companies. Although economic development must continue, it involves pollution. The Kyoto Protocol states that the carbon dioxide absorbed by afforested and reforested areas can be included in the calculation of a nation’s greenhouse gas reductions. The EPA has decided to cut reductions this way because it does not involve any restructuring of domestic industry and would have limited impact on the economy.
However, environmental protection groups have said that even if 60,000 hectares of forest were planted across Taiwan, not even 1 percent of carbon dioxide emissions would be absorbed. Therefore, the EPA has decided to plant trees in China to help cut Taiwan’s carbon emission levels.
This reasoning is essentially based on the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol. The CDM basically means that the more wealthy Annex I countries of the protocol can support carbon dioxide reduction plans of the developing Non-Annex I countries, for example by planting trees, and gain credit toward their own carbon reduction levels as a result.
The problem with this idea is that while China has signed the protocol, it has yet to ratify it, while Taiwan does not even have the opportunity to express an opinion on the matter. The amounts China and Taiwan have resolved to cut their emissions by, or whether China and Taiwan are viewed as developed or developing nations, are absolutely irrelevant.
With China, this issue is further complicated by the fact that a nation’s wealth is measured by per capita income. The logic behind this is simple: Wealthy nations have already enjoyed the benefits development has brought them and they are viewed as being responsible for the majority of the globe’s carbon dioxide emissions. This can clearly be seen from the fact that the combined emissions of the 36 Annex I countries of the protocol account for 70 percent of total global emissions.
China, India and Brazil are three countries with huge potential for economic growth. However, they have not yet committed to reducing their emissions. This means that they will be watched closely as they have the potential to produce high levels of pollution.
China presents an interesting case because it is viewed as a developing nation whose people predominantly have lower middle incomes, yet it accounts for 18 percent of all global emissions, similar to the US. The issue is further complicated because it is not clear whether China will be considered a developing or developed nation in the future.
Moreover, signing agreements aimed at reducing emissions and committing to them is something that needs to be done willingly on behalf of a nation.
Many countries are unwilling to commit to emission reductions because sacrificing economic development to help improve long-standing environmental problems created by all the countries is hard, especially when the benefits from doing so are not immediately forthcoming. The US’ refusal to reduce their emissions is a perfect example of this.
International agreements such as the Kyoto Protocol differ from organizations such as the WTO and the WHO, which every nation wants to join. It is safe to say that only nations isolated internationally such as Taiwan, countries under international pressure or those who want to set a good example for the international community would be willing to ratify such agreements. Basically, countries agree to such terms to improve their international image.
Therefore, it is only a matter of time before Taiwan commits to decreasing its emissions, even though it will be near impossible to get China to do so in their race with the US to become world leader. It is, of course, also hard to say whether China will join the EU in their protest against the US and its emissions.
Ultimately, the trees to be planted by Taiwan in China will absorb the carbon emissions of China only and even then, the amount of trees planted will be insufficient. So the idea that planting trees in China is a good way to substitute and improve Taiwan’s emissions is overly optimistic and in the end, essentially futile.
Wu Pei-ying is a professor of agricultural economics at National Taiwan University.
Translated by Drew Cameron
On March 22, 2023, at the close of their meeting in Moscow, media microphones were allowed to record Chinese Communist Party (CCP) dictator Xi Jinping (習近平) telling Russia’s dictator Vladimir Putin, “Right now there are changes — the likes of which we haven’t seen for 100 years — and we are the ones driving these changes together.” Widely read as Xi’s oath to create a China-Russia-dominated world order, it can be considered a high point for the China-Russia-Iran-North Korea (CRINK) informal alliance, which also included the dictatorships of Venezuela and Cuba. China enables and assists Russia’s war against Ukraine and North Korea’s
After thousands of Taiwanese fans poured into the Tokyo Dome to cheer for Taiwan’s national team in the World Baseball Classic’s (WBC) Pool C games, an image of food and drink waste left at the stadium said to have been left by Taiwanese fans began spreading on social media. The image sparked wide debate, only later to be revealed as an artificially generated image. The image caption claimed that “Taiwanese left trash everywhere after watching the game in Tokyo Dome,” and said that one of the “three bad habits” of Taiwanese is littering. However, a reporter from a Japanese media outlet
An article published in the Dec. 12, 1949, edition of the Central Daily News (中央日報) bore a headline with the intimidating phrase: “You Cannot Escape.” The article was about the execution of seven “communist spies,” some say on the basis of forced confessions, at the end of the 713 Penghu Incident. Those were different times, born of political paranoia shortly after the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) relocated to Taiwan following defeat in China by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The phrase was a warning by the KMT regime to the local populace not to challenge its power or threaten national unity. The
Since taking office, President William Lai (賴清德) has been an active proponent of the Healthy Taiwan initiative. As a member of the Healthy Taiwan Promotion Committee, I have also contributed recommendations on various pharmaceutical policies. After the committee concluded its seventh meeting on Saturday last week, Lai announced that the government is considering a three-year suspension on the Drug Expenditure Target (DET) system’s routine drug price surveys, highlighting the need to further support drug supply resilience. While I am supportive of this policy direction, I must also stress the importance of maintaining our original objective of improving the quality of
RSS