Nations have stepped up measures to deal with climate change over the past few years. With the passage of the Kyoto Protocol in 1997 and the Buenos Aires Plan of Action in 1998, the problem began to be tackled at the international level.
Taiwan's per capita income is now significantly higher than most developing countries and it is likely that Taiwan will join the Kyoto Protocol as a "newly industrialized economy" in the near future.
In order to prepare for entrance into international climate agreements and the Kyoto Protocol, the Cabinet recently sponsored an inter-ministerial Global Environmental Change Policy Task Force (
The Environmental Protection Administration
CO2 released into the atmosphere accounts for about 55 percent of greenhouse gases emitted, most of which originates from fossil fuels. Because CO2 comprises the largest portion of greenhouse gases, international efforts to control the greenhouse effect have begun to focus on the regulation of CO2 emissions.
In 1998, industrial energy use accounted for 58 percent of all energy consumption in Taiwan and industrial CO2 emissions were 57 percent of Taiwan's overall CO2 emissions. Energy use in Taiwan is concentrated in the petrochemical and steel sectors, which use 30 percent of all electricity produced, but only produce about 5 percent of GDP.
Taiwan has pledged to adhere to the Framework Convention on Climate Change and has put forth its policy of "sustainable national development." If Taiwan wants to stick to the spirit of its promises, it should reduce its dependence on energy intensive, polluting industries.
How will the opening of the Sixth Naphtha Cracker, the Pin-nan Industrial Complex (
According to the environmental impact report on the complex, the Seventh Naphtha Cracker will release 9.83 million tons of CO2 a year, while the steel plant is expected to release 10.72 million tons, bringing the total yearly CO2 emissions to 20.55 million tons.
With the addition of 21.89 million tons of CO2 emissions from the Sixth Naphtha Cracker, you have a yearly total of 42.44 million tons of CO2. This figure alone accounts for 37.2 percent of Tai-wan's CO2 emissions in 1990 -- ? the standard for emissions established in the Kyoto pact and will account for an estimated 19 percent of CO2 emissions this year.
The petroleum refining and ethylene production capacity of the Eighth Naphtha Cracker is three times that of the Seventh and will most likely spew out three times as much CO2. Add this to the other major industrial polluters, and you have 62 percent of the total CO2 emitted in 1990.
The findings of the National Energy Symposium
If the government enforces its agreement to cap emissions and simultaneously allows industrial CO2 emissions to increase, then other sectors of society will have to cut their emissions. It could lead to cutthroat competition between industries over CO2 emissions.
It will be a challenge to come up with a fair and equitable means of regulating CO2 emissions and it is inevitable that polluting industries and other sectors of the economy will come under pressure to reduce emmissions.
The "Industrial Policy and Structural Adjustment Report" put out by the National Energy Symposium states that energy-intensive industries should focus on producing goods for the local market rather than exports. The report goes on to say that the industrial adjustment should focus on balancing development and should shift Taiwan's industrial base towards high value-added sectors that consume low levels of energy and are highly linked.
If we continue to rely on the energy-intensive and highly polluting industries to develop Taiwan's economy, then it will only serve to delay industrial upgrading and restructuring.
CO2 reduction is not just an environmental issue, but one that relates to national economic growth and international trade sanctions. International protocols could place serious restrictions on Taiwan in the future.
The pressure from the greenhouse effect and from trying to meet the demands of the Kyoto Protocol has already resulted in a great deal of pressure on the government, yet the environmental impact review of the Pinnan Industrial Complex was passed on Dec. 17 last year.
The complex is slated to be built on the Chiku wetlands (
The park may also end up competing with Tainan Science-based Industrial Park
As it stands, the approval of the project invokes suspicions of the government's resolve to continue with "sustainable development" in Taiwan.
Sue Lin is a professor at the department of environmental engineering at National Cheng Kung University.
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