Apart from the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change is arguably the most important global issue of the past few years. As well as involving the environment and science, it has ramifications for the global economy and international politics.
At the core of climate change is global warming and the resulting climate anomalies.
Greenhouse gases emitted by human activity are believed to be the root of the problem. Carbon dioxide is the most abundant greenhouse gas, accounting for about 75 percent of the anthropogenic greenhouse effect.
Tesla founder Elon Musk has launched the “Gigaton Scale Carbon Removal” challenge on the Xprize platform, which is dedicated to organizing large awards.
The project aims to find innovative technologies that can remove 10 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide per year from the atmosphere by 2050. It offers US$100 million in prize money — a record for Xprise — and is the largest single technology challenge in history.
Unlike former US president Donald Trump’s administration, US President Joe Biden’s team has made addressing climate change one of its core policy objectives.
Given the borderless and nonexclusive nature of the climate and its effects, some people say that climate change might give the US no choice but to work with China and to make concessions on other issues.
Despite the tense atmosphere of the high-level meeting between US and Chinese officials in Alaska on March 18 and 19, US-China cooperation on climate change seems to be getting quietly underway.
In his role as US climate envoy, former US secretary of state John Kerry took part in the virtual Ministerial on Climate Action on Tuesday last week, making his first official contact in an international setting with Chinese Minister for Ecology and Environment Huang Runqiu (黃潤秋).
Given that China is the country that emits the largest amount of carbon dioxide, accounting for about 28 percent of global emissions, its attitude and actions are being closely watched.
In September last year, the Chinese government announced for the first time that it would seek to limit peak carbon-dioxide emissions to 12 billion tonnes by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, and that this would be included in its 14th Five-Year Plan, which it had just adopted at the “Two Sessions,” the Chinese National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.
To achieve these goals, China would need to shift its energy mix and economic model from coal to renewable energy.
China would also need to reduce low-end manufacturing and investment in fixed assets, while shifting to service and consumer-driven industries.
This transition might create business opportunities, and become a card in Beijing’s hand to influence the global economy and world politics.
Although the core challenge of climate change in terms of technology is how to deal with carbon dioxide, the political demands and potential commercial incentives involved in resolving this environmental and scientific issue might generate new variables in global economics and international affairs.
For Taiwan, the issue might generate major challenges in geopolitics and national security.
Government agencies will need to formulate policy responses in advance.
Steven Wu is a biotechnology researcher and manager.
Translated by Julian Clegg
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