The timing for the release of the movie An Inconvenient Truth in Taiwan last month could not have been better -- in September the Executive Yuan approved a draft bill designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) was just about to sign a declaration with seven countries from Central America to commit to emissions cuts.
The compelling evidence on climate change presented by former US vice president Al Gore also came as a solid endorsement for the three Taiwan Green Party candidates running for the Taipei City Council, who are campaigning on the greenhouse gas issue.
Despite some progress, environmental activists suggest that more needs to be done to reduce carbon emissions.
Wu Tung-jye (
Wu noted that the Cabinet needs to consider the issue from a much broader perspective, including whether it is necessary for the nation to construct another freeway or to build another steel or petrochemical plant.
The idea of a specific timeline, however, was rejected by the EPA officials.
"Only laymen would come up with a proposal like that," said Young Chea-yuan (楊之遠), director-general of the EPA's air quality protection and noise control department, adding that the timeline for the Kyoto Protocol was arrived at through multiple rounds of negotiations and compromises among the signatories.
Young said the protocol was signed by 38 industrialized countries around the world. And realizing that strict observance of the protocol would not be easy, industrialized countries have agreed on several viable solutions to help them meet the emission targets.
Young said countries can actually increase their quota of greenhouse gas emissions through the Clean Development Mechanism, where more developed countries help less developed ones curb the amount of greenhouse gas they produce.
"Taiwan can by no means be categorized as an industrialized country, and it is neither a member of the United Nations nor a signatory of the protocol," Young said. "We are unable to do this kind of trading with any country in the international community."
Young said the law is "a very serious thing," and it might involve an overhaul of the nation's energy policy.
Young also said that unlike the nation's air pollution laws, where the EPA is granted complete executive authority, the administration needs to coordinate with other departments in Cabinet, such as Ministry of Economic Affairs, to reduce carbon emissions. It also needs to convey the government's policy objectives to private industry, he said.
The lack of consensus on what the law could achieve is not the only hurdle.
Minister of the Environmental Protection Agency Chang Kow-lung (張國龍) said in a press conference held at the beginning of this month that the nation should dedicate at least 1 percent of GNP to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but the budget that was assigned to the EPA only accounts for about 0.5 percent of GNP.
This sum is supposed to cover all the environmental conservation work required, he said.
Industries, on the other hand, have ambivalent feelings about the policy to reduce carbon emissions, given that Taiwan is not a signatory of the protocol.
British Trade and Cultural Office Director Michael Reilly said that climate change is simply an issue that industry cannot ignore any more.
"Because climate change will affect all of us. And it will affect our children even more. None of us can solve it on our own," Reilly said.
According to Reilly, the British government has taken practical steps to tackle the issue of greenhouse emissions.
The most significant measure was the introduction of the climate change levy, which was first announced in 1999 but formally introduced in 2001.
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
Instead of focusing solely on the threat of a full-scale military invasion, the US and its allies must prepare for a potential Chinese “quarantine” of Taiwan enforced through customs inspections, Stanford University Hoover fellow Eyck Freymann said in a Foreign Affairs article published on Wednesday. China could use various “gray zone” tactics in “reconfiguring the regional and ultimately the global economic order without a war,” said Freymann, who is also a nonresident research fellow at the US Naval War College. China might seize control of Taiwan’s links to the outside world by requiring all flights and ships entering or leaving Taiwan
The first of 10 new high-capacity trains purchased from South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem arrived at the Port of Taipei yesterday to meet the demands of an expanding metro network, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. The train completed a three-day, 1,200km voyage from the Port of Masan in South Korea, the company said. Costing NT$590 million (US$18.79 million) each, the new six-carriage trains feature a redesigned interior based on "human-centric" transportation concepts, TRTC said. The design utilizes continuous longitudinal seating to widen the aisles and optimize passenger flow, while also upgrading passenger information displays and driving control systems for a more comfortable
Taiwan's first indigenous defense submarine, the SS-711 Hai Kun (海鯤, or Narwhal), departed for its 13th sea trial at 7am today, marking its seventh submerged test, with delivery to the navy scheduled for July. The outing also marked its first sea deployment since President William Lai (賴清德) boarded the submarine for an inspection on March 19, drawing a crowd of military enthusiasts who gathered to show support. The submarine this morning departed port accompanied by CSBC Corp’s Endeavor Manta (奮進魔鬼魚號) uncrewed surface vessel and a navy M109 assault boat. Amid public interest in key milestones such as torpedo-launching operations and overnight submerged trials,
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