Thursday, October 21, 2010

Taiwan well-positioned to benefit from low-carbon economy: BTCO

Taipei, Oct. 21 (CNA) Taiwan is in good position to benefit from the transition to a low-carbon economy because of its highly educated population, technological expertise and leadership in the Asia-Pacific region, a visiting British official and the top British diplomat in Taiwan said Thursday.

The United Kingdom is keen to share its experience with Taiwan since both sides are expected to benefit from collaboration in the climate-change issue and in the green-energy sector, said David Campbell, director of the British Trade and Cultural Office in Taiwan (BTCO) , the de-facto embassy in the absence of official diplomatic ties, at a press briefing.

In terms of Taiwan's desire to participate in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) , Campbell said the European Union has always supported Taiwan's meaningful participation in international organizations, but that it will not be solely the U.K.'s decision.

The important question, however, is not just about participation in the UNFCCC, Campbell said. If Taiwan-- which accounts for about 1 percent of global emissions of climate-change gases -- carefully formulates and implements its energy policy, it will be able to transform into a low-carbon economy with reduced carbon emissions, and this would benefit the nation's employment, he continued.

The green-energy sector is one of few sectors able to maintain positive growth and create new jobs during the economic downturn, Campbell said.

Though the U.K. is a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol, it was not until the country decided to tackle the climate-change issue head-on with thorough reviews, dialogues, policy-making and legislation that things started to change, he said.

By 2012, U.K. emissions will be down 23.5 percent from their 1990 level, which will be a greater decrease than committed to in its Kyoto pledge, said Thomas Phipps, policy officer of the Climate Change and Energy Group under the U.K.'s Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Phipps said he has seen positive signs and developments during his stay in Taiwan, where he met with Frances Liang, deputy minister of economic affairs, and Stephen Shen, minister of the Environmental Protection Administration. He also visited the Taiwan Power Co., the state-owned power-supply company.

"I feel like they wanted to know more about how to turn energy-intensive sectors into a part of low-carbon economy, " Phipps said of his hosts, adding that he also saw positive signs in the legislation and passage of Taiwan's Greenhouse Gas Reduction Act, because parts of the act are similar to the U.K.'s regulations.

It took the U.K. a decade to make significant progress in cutting carbon emissions, Phipps noted, but added that Taiwan could take much less time to achieve the same result by sharing the U.K.'s experience. (By Chris Wang) enditem/MH