Sunday, October 21, 2007

Taiwan encouraged to plug into international carbon trading scheme

Taipei, Oct. 18 (CNA) Taiwan's government should be encouraged to address the issue of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by plugging into the international carbon trading scheme and leveraging its status as a non-Kyoto Protocol signatory, a visiting Britain energy consultant said in an interview with the CNA.

"Your government can decide how far and how fast you want to go [in dealing with GHG emissions]. Taiwan can take part in the international trading instruments, trade for allowances of carbon dioxide and manage those on its own, " said Liz Bossley, chief executive of Consilience Energy Advisory Group (CEAG) , a U.K. consultancy specializing in oil, gas, power, coal, weather and emissions trading issues.

Taiwan is not a signatory of the Kyoto Protocol, a United Nations framework setting mandatory emission limitations for the reduction of atmospheric greenhouse gases because participation is limited to U.N. signatories. In some ways, that framework has isolated Taiwan's efforts from the global effort, Bossley said, but it has also provided Taiwan with an opportunity to "observe and avoid errors."

Taiwan will be able to take the best of both world, said Bossley, who was invited to visit Taiwan by the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA).

Emissions trading, she said, is an administrative approach to controlling pollution by providing economic incentives to achieve reductions in the emission of pollutants. The market reached 30 billion Euros this year alone, she said.

Under current directives of the U.N. and European Union (EU) , Taiwan, as a third party, is allowed to trade emission allowances with anyone, Bossley said.

Bossley, a former emissions allowance trader, said Taiwan's government is encouraged to first educate the people on the impact of climate change and explain to citizens what the problem is before measuring the sources of GHG emissions.

"Since your industry is very concentrated, that will not be difficult to do. And finally your policy can be formulated and implemented, " she said.