Taiwan’s third-last finish in the 2020 Climate Change Performance Index results from faulty carbon emissions data and ignores progress in related policy measures, according to the Cabinet-level Environmental Protection Administration Dec. 10.
The 58-economy CCPI, released earlier this month by nongovernmental organizations Germanwatch and Climate Action Network Europe, placed Taiwan ahead of Saudi Arabia and the U.S. in that order.
CCPI adopted an arbitrary approach in choosing criteria comprising the composite and designating respective weightings, the EPA said. It also failed to take into account differences in economic and social developments of surveyed economies, the administration added.
As Taiwan is excluded from the U.N. on political grounds, information provided by the world body via its conventions and mechanisms is limited or nonexistent, the EPA said. For example, statistics about Taiwan’s carbon sink, energy efficiency, greenhouse gas emissions and renewable energy development compiled by U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization are mostly incorrect or outdated, the administration added.
Instead of using the “common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities” principle of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, the EPA said CCPI employed a set of uniform standards for developed, developing and emerging industrial economies while ignoring historical and future responsibilities in carbon emissions.
The administration cited Taiwan’s 23rd ranking among 180 economies in the 2018 Environmental Performance Index compiled by Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy as evidence of CCPI’s problematic methodology. The country trailed only Japan in Asia and came fourth globally in the subcategory of climate and energy in the internationally renowned index, the EPA said.
Despite CCPI’s shortcomings, the administration acknowledged its role in raising public awareness of the need for an all hands on deck approach to combating climate change. The government will continue promoting environmentally friendly policies and demonstrating the many ways Taiwan Can Help realize U.N. Sustainable Development Goal 13, the EPA added. (SFC-E)
Write to Taiwan Today at ttonline@mofa.gov.tw