TAIWAN CONSIDERS POST-COPENHAGEN PATHWAY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 TAIPEI 000002 SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/TC, IO, OES/EGC, OES/ENV, OES/PCI, OES/STC, EPA FOR KASMAN, TROCHE AND HARRIS, DOE FOR INTERNATIONAL, COMMERCE FOR 4431/ITA/MAC/AP/OPB/TAIWAN E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/31/2019 TAGS: SENV ECON ENRG EINV TRGY PREL TSPL TW XE SUBJECT: TAIWAN CONSIDERS POST-COPENHAGEN PATHWAY REF: A. TAIPEI 1093 ¶B. TAIPEI 1453 Classified By: AIT Acting Director Eric Madison for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: On December 30, Taiwan delegates to the Conference of Parties (COP) 15 meeting in Copenhagen gathered to discuss Taiwan's path forward in the fight against climate change. Although Taiwan authorities were disappointed the island did not achieve observer status at COP-15, they have vowed to continue pushing for meaningful participation in international environmental organizations. Participants at the December 30 meeting agreed that Taiwan should stick to its stated greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction goals, find a suitable mechanism to engage in trading carbon offsets, rationalize energy prices, and pass the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Act pending before the Legislative Yuan. Points of contention included whether Taiwan should use 2008 as a base year for legislating GHG reductions, whether Taiwan should move clearly towards measurable, reportable, and verifiable economy-wide emissions targets, and whether Taiwan Power Company (Taipower) has hindered progress on alternative energy development. Industry cooperation will be key to reaching Taiwan's GHG reduction targets, but debate over the best policies to reach those targets is likely to continue. END SUMMARY. -------------- THE RESPONSIBLE GLOBAL CITIZEN -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Taiwan's unique political status has prevented the island from being able to join most international environmental organizations, especially UN entities such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The Taiwan authorities have nonetheless taken action to harmonize domestic legislation and policies with a wide body of international environmental agreements to which the island cannot formally accede. President Ma Ying-jeou and ministries charged with environmental management have taken the position that Taiwan, as a responsible global citizen, has a duty to address the problem of climate change. The authorities have in the past argued that taking action to combat global warming also draws positive attention to Taiwan, shows the rest of the world that Taiwan is an engaged and active global partner, and gives Taiwan an issue that can be used to increase the island's international participation and assistance to others. In the latter half of 2009, Taiwan publicly expressed its desire for expanded participation at the COP-15 meeting in Copenhagen, and enlisted the help of diplomatic allies to make its case for meaningful participation. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) also made overtures to AIT for U.S. assistance and support (ref A). ¶3. (C) Although Taiwan's request to attend COP-15 as an "observer" was ultimately rejected by conference organizers, Taiwan officials and academics did attend the meeting under the umbrella of the island's official research incubator, the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI),which COP-15 organizers listed as an NGO hailing from Hsinchu China, as in previous years. According to a MOFA official handling the island's UNFCCC campaign, the authorities here believe obstacles to Taiwan's participation in UNFCCC meetings are political rather than legal, and officials have vowed to work harder in the future to obtain meaningful (i.e., observer status) participation for Taiwan. AIT has observed that poor interagency coordination between MOFA, Taiwan EPA, the Bureau of Energy, and other stakeholders, as well as a late start on TAIPEI 00000002 002 OF 004 the application process to attend COP-15, weak organizational skills among those shepherding the process, and the absence of outreach to the PRC on this issue, were major factors hampering Taiwan's ability to make a compelling case for observer status in this year's meeting in Copenhagen. -------------- PLANNING THE PATH FORWARD -------------- ¶4. (SBU) The December 30 meeting was the first time members of the Taiwan delegation have conferred since returning to the island. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the future path of Taiwan's GHG reduction policies in light of COP-15. Attendees and speakers at the meeting included Minister without Portfolio Liang Chi-yuan, an economist who covers a wide range of energy and climate issues for the administration, Taiwan EPA Minister Stephen Shen, former Foreign Minister Eugene Chien, who now operates a sustainable energy NGO, representatives from the Bureau of Energy, from Taipower, and prominent academics. ¶5. (C) Speakers covered a range of topics, and broad agreement was reached on the following points: - Taiwan strongly desires meaningful participation in future UN-related climate discussions. Speakers felt Taiwan has much to contribute to the global discussion on this issue, and its exclusion from meetings does a disservice to both Taiwan and the rest of the world. Speakers suggested better training for Taiwan negotiators, pointing out that the PRC's hard-nosed bargaining skills would be a useful model for Taiwan's MOFA to study. They also urged Taiwan to explore cooperation with potentially sympathetic groups such as the UN's Alliance of Small Island States. - Taiwan will continue to pursue the GHG reduction targets already proposed by the administration (i.e. reduce to 2008 levels between 2016-2020, to 2000 levels by 2025, and to 50 percent of 2000 levels by 2050). - By January 31, 2009, Taiwan will detail nationally appropriate mitigation actions (NAMAs) that it will take to reduce GHG emissions. This is in line with COP-15 requirements for non-Annex I countries. At the same time, however, the Executive Yuan will ask each ministry to propose measures for moving Taiwan towards fulfilling "economy-wide emissions targets for 2020" that are measurable, reportable, and verifiable, as required of Annex I countries. - Taiwan must engage in international cap and trade programs in order to meet its GHG reduction targets. U.S. and other foreign experts visited Taiwan this year to provide training and case studies on their own experiences developing emissions trading programs. Taiwan's inability to participate in UN trading platforms was a serious concern to the participants, who proposed alternatives that would have Taiwan choose one or multiple UNFCCC Annex-I countries as operational bases, and then establish proxy organizations to open accounts registered in those countries to acquire and manage carbon credits. U.S. experts have criticized this plan as unwieldy and open to fraud (ref A). - The administration must rationalize Taiwan's artificially low energy and gasoline prices, and bring them in line with prices dictated by market forces. Speakers noted that passing energy or carbon taxes would be difficult in Taiwan, and any such legislation would have to provide subsidies for low-income individuals and families. (Note: Taiwan's legislature shelved a proposed Energy Tax this past October TAIPEI 00000002 003 OF 004 in the face of stiff corporate opposition. Premier Wu Den-yih noted there was no "timetable" for an energy tax, and the central authority would not institute any such tax until the economy had "recovered." End Note.) - The Legislative Yuan (LY) should pass the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Act (GHGRA),which was initially proposed in 2006 and has languished since then due to corporate opposition. The GHRA would codify emissions reduction targets, as well as a domestic reporting and verification system. The LY was expected to pass the GHGRA in early 2010, after taking COP-15 developments and mandates into account. ¶6. (C) Three further points, which highlight areas of contention or disagreement between the participants, were raised: - Some proposed reconsidering the use of 2008 as a base year for Taiwan's first GHG reduction target. Because of the global financial crisis, energy usage and GHG emissions in 2008 were artificially depressed, and 2008 is therefore not a fair baseline for making future reductions. - Taiwan is moving to position itself between Annex I and non-Annex I criteria, as described in the third bullet point, above. Some participants, however, notably from Taipower and academia, argued that Taiwan should steer clearly towards non-Annex I criteria, and should put its own interests first, take advantage of its unique status as a non-UNFCC member unbound by international agreements, and avoid agreeing to measurable, reportable, and verifiable targets that could hamstring the island into undertaking costly GHG reduction actions without international support or participation (for instance in carbon trading programs). - Taipower took the strongest position against aggressive action to meet GHG reduction targets, which was not surprising considering Taipower's reliance on fossil fuels to generate electricity and earn money. Taipower also operates the island's nuclear power plants, and clearly supported expanding nuclear power. In fact, increasing the use of nuclear power received general support from all participants, but was not a focus of discussion at the meeting. Taiwan EPA Minister Shen concluded the meeting by jokingly announcing that Taipower should be "disbanded" for being so unhelpful in promoting alternative energy development and carbon reduction policies. He then struck a serious note and said that Taipower must take fresh view of energy production emphasizing GHG reductions. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶7. (C) Although some meeting participants asserted that Taiwan should not implement aggressive carbon reduction policies, EPA Minister Shen and Minister without Portfolio Liang came down on the side of those who advocated moving from NAMAs towards measurable, reportable, and verifiable economy-wide emissions targets (i.e., from non-Annex I criteria to Annex I criteria). These two ministers' views will be influential as the administration moves forward on its GHG reduction agenda. However, both Shen and Liang asserted that economic development remains Taiwan's top priority, and GHG reductions should not impede GDP growth. Considering that Taiwan's industrial sector accounts for 50.1 percent of energy end-use in Taiwan (compared to 22.7 percent in the OECD and 27 percent globally),industrial buy-in will have to be a key component of a successful GHG reduction policy in Taiwan. This reality is likely behind the Ma TAIPEI 00000002 004 OF 004 administration's strong support for a cap and trade program, which would help industry meet capped emissions targets. Environmental NGOs and a growing number of academics here have begun criticizing cap and trade programs as little more than speculative bubbles, and maintain the administration should instead focus on implementing meaningful energy and carbon taxes, aimed primarily at industry. The debate over how Taiwan should achieve its GHG reduction targets will continue, but for now the targets themselves are unlikely to change. MADISON