The nation has dropped two places in the Germanwatch Climate Change Performance Index this year, because of increased electricity use and a decline in renewable power generation last year, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said yesterday, adding that the final results would not be confirmed until tomorrow.
Germanwatch announces the rankings every year, and its index for next year would be announced tomorrow, according to the environmental organization’s Web site.
The Chinese-language United Daily News yesterday reported that Germanwatch lowered the nation’s ranking from No. 54 to No. 56, only surpassing South Korea, Iran, the US and Saudi Arabia.
The report cited documentation obtained at the 24th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change taking place in Poland.
The nation’s renewable power generation declined by 2.87 percent last year, because less rainfall resulted in a 17 percent reduction in hydropower generation, the EPA said yesterday, adding that solar and wind power sources were not able to make up the shortfall despite their significant increase last year.
Due to higher temperatures in summer last year, the nation’s electricity demand increased by 2.34 percent compared with 2016, it said, adding that last year’s power use also hit a record.
The group evaluates a nation’s performance in four areas — greenhouse gas emissions, renewable energy development, energy use and climate policy — but climate policy “lacks objective evaluation criteria,” which is why the nation received a lower score, the EPA said.
India is a big carbon emitter, but its climate policy score is curiously high, it added.
Evaluations on greenhouse per capita gas emissions are unfavorable for export-reliant countries, such as Taiwan and South Korea, the agency said.
The EPA said it would pay close attention to the group’s publication tomorrow and continue reviewing its climate-related policy.
In last year’s report Taiwan ranked No. 54 overall and No. 40 on climate policy.
Taiwan was referred to as “Chinese Taipei” in the group’s past reports.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
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