President Ma Ying-jeou on June 18 attended the Green+ Together Taiwan Sustainability Summit, where he spoke on the government's current energy policy and visions for the future. He also encouraged all sectors of society to continue working with the government to jointly promote sustainable development throughout the world.
In remarks, the president stated that according to the definition of the United Nations, "Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." This interpretation carries a strong meaning of generational inclusion and justice, he said. In order to respond to and pursue this goal, the ROC in 1997 established the National Council for Sustainable Development. In 2000 it completed Agenda 21─Strategic Guidelines for ROC's Sustainable Development, and in 2002 it adopted the Taiwan Sustainable Development Action Plan. Policies set out in these documents have been implemented annually to realize sustainable development, said the president.
President Ma pointed out that sustainable development not only includes environmental protection and ecosystems, but also encompasses land restoration, conservation of energy, reduction of carbon emissions, resource recycling, and basic education. The president specially noted that Taiwan has few natural resources, and imports over 98% of its energy resources. And due to its location in the Pacific Ocean, it has felt the impact of global warming and climate change, which makes Taiwan place even more importance on sustainable development.
The president stated that Taiwan accounts for less than 0.3% of the world's population, but produces nearly 1% of the world's carbon emissions, so after he took office in 2008 he sought aggressively to implement a policy of conserving energy and reducing carbon emissions. President Ma commented that under the six major emerging industries initiative, which includes promoting green energy, biotechnology, high-end agriculture, medicine and health care, tourism, and the cultural & creative industries, the government is also actively promoting the so-called four emerging "smart" industries, namely intelligent electric vehicles, smart green buildings, industrial application of invention patents, and cloud computing. At the same time, he said, the government is conducting a national campaign to conserve water, electricity, oil, and paper. At present, the president noted, Taiwan's carbon output has dropped from 1% to 0.89% of the world total, and Taiwan's energy efficiency now exceeds 2% each year, this shows that the government's efforts are already yielding concrete results.
With respect to the development of renewable energy sources, President Ma stated, the government has formulated the Renewable Energy Development Act and is actively promoting a variety of renewable energy policies, he said, including the construction of 1,000 land- and sea-based wind turbines, and the installation of rooftop solar energy panels sufficient to provide power to one million homes. In addition, the government's energy policy is to "ensure nuclear safety, gradually reduce reliance on nuclear power, and create a green power and low-carbon environment to gradually become a nuclear-free country." Thus, under the principles of "no power rationing, maintaining reasonable power prices, and making good on our pledges to the international community to reduce carbon emissions," the government will continue to promote measures to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions.
President Ma explained that after he took office, he pledged to the international community that Taiwan would reduce its carbon output to the level of 2005 by the year 2020, and in 2025 would be reduced to the level of 2000. He acknowledged that this will not be an easy pledge to realize, especially since Taiwan is so reliant on the import of energy. Consequently, the nation must redouble its efforts to reduce carbon emissions in order to avoid sanctions or being condemned by the international community, he said. These are also factors that figure into the government's energy policy, the president stated.
President Ma furthermore remarked that the Ministry of Economic Affairs has long promoted a special project to help enterprises take measures to conserve energy and reduce carbon. At the same time, it encourages companies to emphasize eco-friendly design, boost clean production technology, and increase the recycling and reuse of industrial waste. Efforts by enterprises to supportsustainable development have already paid off, the president said. For instance, Switzerland's International Institute for Management Development (IMD) in its World Competitiveness Yearbook 2013 ranked Taiwan's enterprises third globally in the category of "sustainable development." This shows, he noted, that sustainable development is important to Taiwan's enterprises.
President Ma also mentioned that earlier in the day he was holding discussions with Republic of Guatemala President Otto Perez Molina and Mrs. Molina. He exchanged opinions with his counterpart on solar power, hydropower, and electricity prices, and learned that Guatemala presently relies heavily on hydropower, which, at NT$6 per kilowatt hour, is more expensive than the NT$2.7 price per kilowatt hour here. President Ma called for bilateral cooperation on solar power generation systems and LED lighting.
Last year, said the president, coal supplied 41% of Taiwan's power needs, natural gas 30%, nuclear energy 18.4%, and renewable energy 3.7%. He expressed hope that by the year 2025 the percentage of renewable energy rises to 9.7%, and he encouraged all sectors of society to continue to work with the government in jointly promoting sustainable development throughout the world.
Among those attending the event were Environmental Protection Administration Minister Stephen Shu-hung Shen (沈世宏), Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Woody Tyzz-Jiun Duh (杜紫軍), Siemens Ltd., Taiwan President and CEO Erdal Elver, Commonwealth Publishing Group Founder and Chairman Charles H. C. Kao (高希均), Taiwan Institute for Sustainable Energy Chairman Eugene Chien (簡又新), and Chairman Chang Pen-Tsao (張平沼) of the General Chamber of Commerce of the ROC.