The theme for this year’s World Environment Day today is Forests: Nature At Your Service. Taiwan is blessed with forests across the island and for many these represent natural beauty, growth and renewal. Just as with our forests, investment and care are needed to tackle climate change, and the low-carbon sector also offers opportunities for economic growth and innovation.
The UK is nurturing the green shoots of change. Taiwan too is finding practical ways to make a difference, including the recent afforestation of 20,000 hectares of land, which can offset 300,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide each year, and plans to plant another 6,440 hectares this year. The overall target is to increase forest coverage in Taiwan by 60,000 hectares within eight years.
Taiwan is also making investment in new technology. For example, on March 28 it was officially announced that a Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Strategic Alliance would be formed in Taiwan, which combines expertise from government, industry and academia. The UK government has also made a substantial commitment to this new technology, last year announcing ￡1 billion (US$1.64 billion) in funding into four commercial-scale CCS demonstration projects. Taiwan’s CCS Strategic Alliance is expected to begin commercial operations in 2020.
Although there are many good initiatives both in Taiwan and worldwide, there needs to be a bigger and faster commitment to change.
The UK government is committed to growing the low-carbon economy, to make a substantive difference. In the past fortnight, the UK government has made two major announcements. First, announcing ambitious, legally binding targets to reduce the UK’s carbon emissions. Second, the government published plans for a Green Investment Bank, the world’s first national green development bank.
In the UK’s fourth carbon budget, the coalition government accepted the recommendation of the Climate Change Committee to cut carbon emissions to 50 percent of 1990 levels by 2025. No other country in the world has set legally binding carbon targets in this much detail, this far ahead. By being so clear, and so committed, the UK can help to stimulate the investment that the low-carbon sector will need. Investors and potential investors in low-carbon economic activity — like renewable electricity, electric cars or home insulation — will have the certainty they need to make long-term investments.
Through leading by example, the UK can better make the case for others to raise their level of ambition. So we will, for example, continue to argue for an EU target of a 30 percent cut by 2020.
In another first, the UK will legislate to create an operationally independent, enduring Green Investment Bank. It has guaranteed ￡3 billion initial capitalization and the bank will start to make investments from April next year. This initial capitalization should act as a catalyst for the bank to attract an additional ￡15 billion of investment in green infrastructure by 2014 to 2015.
By providing the finance for low-carbon infrastructure, the bank will help to lay the foundations for the UK’s long-term growth. Possible early priorities for the bank are offshore wind, waste and non-domestic energy efficiency.
We hope that in future years the bank will grow to become both a borrowing and an investing institution. We are committed to offering investment opportunities to help grow the sector quicker.
These two initiatives are only part of the UK’s vision for a low-carbon economy. Since coming to power, the UK government has committed to reforming the electricity market to encourage greater investment into low-carbon electricity plants, has launched the world’s first incentive scheme for renewable heat and has published details of the Green Deal — a scheme enabling householders, businesses and landlords to improve the energy efficiency of their homes and buildings at no up-front cost.
We are not only working domestically, but also around the world. The UK and Taiwan are already sharing experiences in developing off-shore wind, smart meters and electric vehicle technology. There is a real opportunity to cross-pollinate ideas and develop research collaborations.
The UK takes its commitment to low-carbon seriously at all levels. Last year, the British Trade and Cultural Office (BTCO) in Taipei achieved carbon neutrality for 2009 under the PAS 2060 international standard certified by the British Standards Institution. The BTCO has just announced an independently audited 21 percent reduction of its carbon emissions last year, compared with 2009, and a renewal of its carbon neutral status.
By taking action to reduce our emissions and by nurturing the green shoots of change at home and abroad, we can secure our long-term future. The UK, Taiwan and the international community must encourage green growth for the sake of the generations to follow.
David Campbell is the director of the British Trade and Cultural Office.
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