Thu, Jan 21, 2010 page2

• INTERVIEW: Taiwan can learn from efforts abroad to cut carbon emissions: Carbon Trust

  Carbon Trust, a nonprofit company created by the British government, works with firms and the public sector to work toward a low-carbon economy. Robin Dickinson, Carbon Trust’s senior project manager, sat down on Tuesday with staff reporter Vincent Y. Chao to discuss his views on international carbon trading and what it could mean for Taiwan

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  Taipei Times (TT): One of the aims of your organization is to pursue a low-carbon economy by assisting in the development of low-carbon businesses. How does this work?

  Robin Dickinson: First, [we] help businesses become more energy efficient. We have in the UK [a large] number of consultants that go out and advise businesses on how they can save money by reducing carbon emissions. We help them implement these changes by giving out loans and practical advice.

  Another area we work at is investment in new, low-carbon technologies ... to ensure that businesses can continue to bring [them] into the market. We try to incubate these businesses, their ideas and what makes them work. We do this not only in the UK but also for other countries, using government money to leverage these private companies and ensure that the technologies come to the front.

  We are looking to set up this [framework] in other countries in the world ... as part of a global network. In Australia we have franchised the mechanisms that the company has used in the UK, so they can execute it and implement a lot quicker and more robustly.

  TT: In Taiwan, much of the debate has centered on proposals to either create a carbon trading system or an energy tax. A proposed Greenhouse Gas Reduction Act (溫室氣體減量法) includes only a domestic cap and trade system, yet has been held up in the legislature since 2006. What are your views on this and its impact?

  Dickinson: To achieve [emissions] reductions schemes around the world, there are many different instruments that can be used. The ones that seem to be the most successful are cap and trade in practicality. Therefore, I encourage Taiwan to consider such a scheme.

  Carbon trading is basically a limit on the amount of carbon that can be emitted. Companies that make greater savings can sell the surplus ... to less efficient companies. It allows a balance between more and less efficient producers, while overall emissions go down.

  In the UK, we implemented and supported the Carbon Reduction Commitment and learned a lot of lessons from European cap and trade schemes. We tested the system for two years before making it work. As a result, a lot of the fears that arose from this potential scheme and its impact on industries have not been realized. I think the fact that many of these systems [already] exist around the world reduces fears that it could create unexpected results.

  Therefore, [Taiwan] can have more confidence in implementing it the cap and trade scheme starting first with two trial years; it would be an effective way of moving the process forward.

  TT: Do the cap and trade system and carbon or energy taxes work well together?

  Dickinson: The energy tax is a form of subsidy that spurs creation of new low carbon technologies. [For example,] wind farms are more expensive than coal fired power stations, so [the tax] allows the power stations to pay for more wind farms. It is a sort of system to allow the creation of more renewable energy. That’s the structure, it’s not really a tax, but a way of subsidizing low carbon generation.

  TT: Taiwan’s economy is based on trading and much of its raw materials are imported, refined, then exported. Would its exports be hit disproportionately if products were required to be carbon labeled?

  Dickinson: Well, carbon labeling will start to identify where the most efficient places are to manufacture and produce materials and goods. One thing that is clear — distance and transport are not that big of an issue, it’s about how efficient the organization is and its carbon generation.

  If you have a very efficient production process, it is going to be better wherever it is in the world that you generate products from. But equally, from an energy point of view, if the producer is more efficient it is also cheaper and therefore it should have a cost advantage.

  TT: Do you mean that Taiwanese companies need to stay ahead of the curve and become more energy and cost efficient?

  Dickinson: Exactly. They will maybe have an advantage if they move first and maintain that position.

  TT: So how exactly does this carbon labeling system — which your organization has been introducing — work? Environmental Protection Administration Deputy Minister Chiou Wen-yan (邱文彥) said on Monday that he was going to introduce a similar carbon labeling system. Is this a step in the right direction in the absence of more concrete measures?

  Dickinson: We set up a commercial subsidiary to provide accreditation services because we realized that while there is a demand for this work, there was no structure available for it worldwide. Our Carbon Trust Standard shows that if emissions are reduced, companies would be able to [show] its reductions to the world.

  This helps consumers understand that they can save carbon and money by being more energy efficient at home. They can save carbon by buying low carbon products and then encouraging that more of these products be made. It is very good that carbon labeling is being started so that consumers have the ability not only to save money but also carbon when they buy things.

  TT: Do you think global warming is a problem that can be resolved through the measures that you have mentioned?

  Dickinson: [Global warming] is a big problem, but it is manageable. As they say, ‘How do you eat an elephant? You eat it in small bits.’ It is not an insurmountable problem and people around the world are making progress.

  There is no reason why Taiwan cannot learn from what is already [being done] and accelerate the adoption without fear of poor results. In a way, Taiwan has the advantage of seeing other [nations] take these steps and make it work quicker and more effectively here.
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