Climate index unfairly ranks Taiwan: minister

HARSH? The index lacked objective judgement and failed to take into account Taiwan’s insufficient natural resources and high energy demands, the ministry said

• By Esme Yeh / Staff reporter, with CNA

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Minister of Environment Peng Chi-ming (彭?明) questioned the latest Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) released by Germanwatch on Wednesday, in which Taiwan ranked No. 59 in overall performance, with no significant progress from last year.

The index is a tool used to track the climate mitigation efforts of 64 countries and the EU, published annually by Germanwatch and the NewClimate Institute.

This year’s index results were unveiled as the 31st Conference of the Parties continued in Antalya, Turkey.

A person walks past the building housing the Ministry of Environment headquarters in Taipei in an undated photograph. The Environmental Protection Administration was upgraded to the Ministry of Environment in 2023.

Photo: CNA

The results ranked Taiwan 59th in overall climate change performance, which is considered a “very low” rating in the CCPI report.

Other Asian countries given a “very low” rating in the CCPI included China (No. 56), Japan (No. 58) and South Korea (No. 61), while Malaysia (No. 46) and Indonesia (No. 51) were rated “low.”

India (No. 28), Vietnam (No. 29) and Thailand (No. 30) received a “medium” CCPI rating and the Philippines (No. 16) received a “high” rating.

The index’s climate change performance can be further divided into four categories: greenhouse gas emissions, renewable energy development, energy use and climate policy.

Although Taiwan was rated “low” or “very low” in the former three categories, its climate policy earned a “medium” rating.

The report said that Taiwan holds a leading position in electrification development, but its green energy development needs to be scaled up.

“Electricity supplies around 47.8 percent of final energy consumption, while renewables contribute only about 4.6 percent of total primary energy supply,” it said.

Peng said on Wednesday that the index’s calculation methods were not fair to Taiwan, adding that he had expressed the view to Germanwatch, but his advice was not adopted.

The index’s evaluation lacked a neutral, objective judgement made by a third party, he said.

Taiwan has insufficient natural resources and is responsible for global semiconductor manufacturing, which is highly energy-consuming, he said.

Taiwan would leverage carbon capture and storage technology aside from renewable energy development in its climate efforts, Peng said.

Although development of renewables has been rapid globally, the demand for fossil fuels is likely to persist beyond 2030 or 2040, he said.

Climate Change Administration Director-General Tsai Ling-yi (蔡玲儀) said the index is questionable, as it uses preconditions regarding different countries’ emissions per capita.

For example, emissions per capita in Taiwan and Japan were required to be lowered to 3 tonnes, while some other countries’ reduction targets were set at 8 tonnes or 9 tonnes of emissions per capita, she said.

The Ministry of Environment cited a report from the EU’s Joint Research Centre as showing that Taiwan and Japan were the only two major Asian countries with a long-term reduction trend in carbon emissions.

Taiwan’s GDP grew by 47.6 percent over the past decade, while emissions decreased by 8.7 percent, it said.

That reflected the nation values emissions reduction while pursuing economic growth, the ministry said, adding that Taiwan outperformed many other advanced economies from this perspective.