Chen signs sustainability declaration

President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) signed the Taiwan Declaration on Sustainable Development (台灣永續發展宣言) yesterday, vowing to make the country's environment safe and healthy and one in which a pluralistic, vigorous and harmonious civil society can be built.

Chen's signature was followed by that of Premier Yu Shyi-kun, Academia Sinica President Lee Yuan-tseh (李遠哲), Buddhist master Sheng Yen (聖嚴法師) and agriculturalist Chung Wen-fang (鍾文芳).

Last October, while meeting with Taiwan's representatives to the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, Chen designated 2003 as the First Year of Sustainable Development in Taiwan.

"There's an urgency for us to promote sustainable development, because Taiwan is a densely populated, disaster-prone country with limited natural resources and is in a unique political situation," Chen said.

Chen stressed that he would push the Cabinet to back the sustainability plan in order to balance conservation and economic development and make Taiwan a "Green Silicon Island."

To highlight the importance of leaving future generations a liveable environment, Chen and other leading figures gave seedlings of endemic species to children's representatives.

Yu, also convener of the Cabinet's National Council for Sustainable Development, said that the council's status had been upgraded last year in order to make it more effective.

Taiwan is one of only a few countries whose premier convenes such a council.

Lee said that the First Year of Sustainable Development in Taiwan was the beginning of a sustainable development dynasty, whose rulers are the Taiwanese people.

Lee said that it was a pity that the Western model of economic development has been mimicked by most developing Asian countries for decades.

"Taiwan has to wake up and search for its own roads leading to sustainable development rather than following the steps of Western countries," Lee said.

According to Minister without Portfolio Yeh Jiunn-rong (葉俊榮), executive-general of the National Council for Sustainable Development, about 130 out of 231 action plans on sustainable development will be carefully reviewed by the end of the year.

Juju Wang (王俊秀), a sociology professor at National Tsing Hwa University, said that the government has been heading in the right direction when it comes to sustainable development, but details of its action plans may need to be revised.

Wang said that the public still sees many construction projects lacking the spirit of sustainable development.

"We haven't found any place to dump radioactive waste but the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant is still under construction," Wang said.