Taiwan was ranked 59th of 61 countries in the annual Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) released by Germanwatch on Wednesday. Responding to the report, the Environmental Protection Administration said that the German organization’s evaluation did not account for varied national situations and development courses, and that it did not have access to Taiwan’s latest data on carbon sinks, greenhouse gas emissions, energy efficiency and renewable power, as it is not a UN member. Taiwan’s carbon intensity of 0.26kg of carbon dioxide emissions per US dollar is lower than the global average, it said.
Perhaps more questionable about the report is the comparatively high rankings awarded to China and India — two countries where reports emerge annually about extreme levels of air pollution. Germanwatch ranked China 30th. However, Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post on Oct. 2 last year reported that a study by researchers from the Chinese University of Hong Kong found that PM2.5 — airborne particles of less than 2.5 micrometers — and ground-level ozone pollution cause an average of 1.1 million premature deaths in China annually. India ranked ninth, but Reuters last month reported that PM2.5 levels in New Delhi reached 500 on some indices on Nov. 3. High levels of pollution were not limited to India’s cities, but found throughout the country’s northern belt, Reuters said.
While the CCPI does not measure air pollution specifically, the UN Economic Commission for Europe says that poor air quality and climate change are closely linked. “Some air pollutants are also climate-relevant and thus known as short-lived climate pollutants (SCLPs), such as ground-level ozone (O3) and black carbon, a component of particulate matter (PM). When black carbon deposits on ice and snow, it causes local warming and increases melting,” its Web site says.
Tackling climate change is in everyone’s interest, but highlighting the environmental shortcomings of Taiwan and the US — which ranked last on the list — while overlooking those of two of the world’s largest contributors to climate change hardly seems helpful. It also smacks of political influence, particularly as India and China are UN members and two of the largest contributors to world economic growth. Of course, the US is also a UN member and one of the largest economic contributors, but the relationship between the administration of US President Donald Trump and the EU has been one fraught with complications.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday unveiled the European Green Deal. The commission has called it “the most comprehensive plan ever published to pull Europe out of the twin crises of austerity, and climate and environmental breakdown.” However, there has been opposition among European businesses to some of the proposed regulations, and critics have voiced concern that the plan would be directed at imports instead, effectively equating it to “protectionism.” That is why India and China need to be seen on paper to be team players on climate to avoid hefty tariffs.
The government must send the message to Europe that it is taking action on renewable energy and environmental protection. Perhaps it could be proactive and provide Germanwatch — which presents its reports at the annual UN Climate Change Conference — with more comprehensive data. It should also consider liberalizing the nation’s energy market, as the European Chamber of Commerce Taiwan suggested during the presentation of its annual position paper on Nov. 5, which said that the energy market must be deregulated “to allow multiple business models for the installation, sales and use of electricity generated from renewable energy sources.”
Taiwan has friends in the EU, but it must speak up for itself to avoid being hit with tariffs it cannot afford, particularly as it attempts to reduce its dependence on the Chinese market.
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