ROC President Ma Ying-jeou said June 6 that his government will continue to uphold the principle of giving equal attention to environmental protection and economic development.
Ma’s remarks came at the closing ceremony of the National Climate Change Summit hosted by the Cabinet-level Environmental Protection Administration in Taipei City.
“Taiwan’s carbon dioxide releases in 2008 and 2009 fell 4.1 percent and 5 percent respectively from a year before,” Ma said. “Although carbon emissions in 2010 and 2011 rose 6.2 percent and 2.85 percent respectively due to economic growth, the country released only 261 million metric tons of CO2 in 2011, down from 263 million metric tons in 2007.”
Ma pointed out that even though the gross domestic product increased by an average of 3.31 percent between 2008 and 2011, during that time energy consumption decreased by 0.04 percent on average, while CO2 emissions dropped by an average of 3.36 percent.
“Per capita use of crude oil also fell by 1,616 liters over the last four years, which is equivalent to savings of more than NT$28,000 (US$933) per person,” Ma said. “Average individual CO2 emissions also fell by 4.62 metric tons during this time frame.”
“In addition, in recent years energy efficiency has increased by 2 percent annually, an indication that carbon reduction efforts by the government have paid off,” he said.
Taiwan is now ranked No. 5 in the world in terms of the installation density of solar-powered water heating systems, the president noted, adding that Taiwan is the second nation in the world to replace all of its traffic lights with light-emitting diodes.
Taiwan was also rated No. 6 in the world and No. 2 in Asia in the 2010 World Competitiveness Yearbook with regards to its green technology capabilities, Ma said.
The National Climate Change Summit, which ran from June 5 to 6, touched upon a variety of issues, organizers said, including agricultural production, biodiversity, disasters, energy supply and industry, health and environmental education, land utilization, life support infrastructures, and water resources.
