Taipei, Aug. 2 (CNA) Taiwan should develop a clear energy plan that goes beyond its goal of 20 percent renewables in its energy mix and reduces its current heavy reliance on fossil fuels, Jeffrey Sachs, winner of this year's Tang Prize in Sustainable Development, said Wednesday.
During his lecture in Taipei as the Tang Prize laureate, the renowned American economist highlighted the alarming rate at which the temperature has risen due to global warming, exacerbated by El Nino.
The world has already seen 1.2 degrees Celsius of warming compared with pre-industrial levels, which could further rise to an "anomaly" of 1.4 degrees Celsius due to the "huge, "It's not just climate change. It's the destruction of every major biome in the world, andevery major fi shery in the world, because of the scale of the world economy," measuredat US$100 trillion or more per year.
That has further driven home the urgent need for a zero carbon energy system by mid-century, but Taiwan has "no plans at all" except for a "50-30-20" policy goal, whichamounts to little more than a "statement," Sachs contended.
Sachs was referring to guidelines issued by the government of President Tsai Ing-wen(蔡英文) in April 2017 that it would pursue an energy mix of 50 percent natural gas, 30percent coal, and 20 percent renewable energy by 2025, while eliminating nuclear power.
Taiwan still has not laid out any plans to back up that energy structure and should do soby introducing secnarios with and without nuclear power, which are key to achievingnet-zero emissions by 2050, said Sachs, the former director of the Earth Institute atColumbia University.
What Taiwan's government is working toward is an 80 percent fossil fuel system, which"makes no sense" when taking into account its goal to attain carbon neutrality by 2050,Sachs said.
In a post-lecture question-and-answer session, he said failure to come up with analternative "emergency policy" to phase out nuclear energy could have tangibleeconomic consequences.
In five to 10 yeas, Sachs said, "Taiwan's own export products could become terriblydamaged by the fact that it is a fossil fuel based economy still, because the world ismoving to decarbonization."
During the speech, Sachs also recounted how the world set its course on sustainabledevelopment by adopting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015, and how alack of cooperation within and among nations has resulted in the failure to attain thosegoals.
Sachs also highlighted the importance of dialogue as the key to cooperation and theachievement of sustainable development, especially in-depth and substantive exchangesamong the great powers and major world regions, which he said is essential to keepingthe peace.
The economist touched upon recent engagements between Ukrainian and Russian forcesin the Black Sea, in which U.S.-led NATO played a role by providing Ukraine withintelligence, citing this as an example of a hot war between nuclear powers jeopardizingsustainability.
Sachs also highlighted the importance of dialogue as the key to cooperation and theachievement of sustainable development, especially in-depth and substantive exchangesamong the great powers and major world regions, which he said is essential to keepingthe peace.
The economist touched upon recent engagements between Ukrainian and Russian forcesin the Black Sea, in which U.S.-led NATO played a role by providing Ukraine withintelligence, citing this as an example of a hot war between nuclear powers jeopardizingsustainability.
