|
Workshop
on Sustainable Development Indicators
Chung-Li,
Taiwan, 17-19 November 2001
Sustainable
Development Indicators for Taiwan
Jiunn-Rong
Yeh1, Shang-Lien Lo2, Ling-Ling Lee3, Jin-Tan Liu4,
Juju Chin-Shou Wang5, and Shu-Li Huang6
5.
Economic Pressure Indicator
It
is concluded by traditional economic theorems that environmental
resources merely play the roles of non-scarcity (eg. air)
and non-exhaustibility (eg. farm land) in economic activities.
From this point of view, it seems that GNP or GDP is undoubtedly
the most important barometer in measuring the economic performance
of a country. Especially after WW
II,
this barometer
has become the rule of thumb in assessing economic development.
Nevertheless, when exhaustion of natural resources or breakdown
of ecosystem may limit economic development ecologically,
it will be doubted if we use GDP to measure the degree of
development of a country. When a society faces pollution
of soil and water, forest devastations, acid rain, abandon
of toxic wastes, changing climate, and so on, it is hard
to believe this kind of society will be in the state of
progress and growth. The irreversibility of natural resources
will put short-term GDP growth and long-term economic development
in a dilemma. If there is a gap between the cycle of resource
regeneration and the ecosystem sustaining economic activities,
GDP growth will no longer be the barometer measuring long-term
economic development.
Generally
speaking, there are some defects using GDP to measure social
welfare standard. First of all, it will ignore exhaustion
of natural resources, overestimate national income, and
cannot genuinely measure perpetual productivity.
Secondly,
it will ignore the negative effects of deteriorating environment
on living quality and health. Thirdly, it will ignore non-market
trading. For example, services provided by households are
not included in national account.
To
fix these defects, the UN has aggressively promoted two
works. On one hand, they published SEEA(System for integrated
Environment and Economic Accounting) for the basis of compiling
Green Accounting. On the other hand, they began compiling
the indicators of perpetual development in UNCED Agenda
21.
5.1
Process of Developing Indicators
We
refer to some international sustainable development indicators
in economic category and increase the characteristics of
Taiwan economy, and finally reflect environment and ecological
indicators to realize the relationship. The table below
shows the international SDI.
Table 5.1 Economic Indicators from US, UK, Canada and UN
| US |
UK |
Canada |
UN |
|
*ECapital
assets
*ELabor
productivity
*EFederal
debt to GDP ratio
*EEnergy
consumption per capita & of GDP
*EMaterials
consumption per capita & per $ of GDP
*EInflation
*EInvestment
in R&D as a percentage of GDP
*EDomestic
product
*EIncome
distribution
*EConsumption
expenditures per capita
*EUnemployment
*EPercentage
of households in problem housing
*EHomeownership
rates
|
*EGross
domestic production
*EEconomic
structure
*EConsumption
component of GDP & private saving
*EConsumption
*EInflation
*EEmployment
rate
*EGovernment
loan & debts
*EPollution
*EInfant
mortality
*ELife
expectancy
|
*ETotal
material product
*EEnergy
consumption per capita
*ETrade
opennessˇ"(]Total Import& Export as a percentage
of GDPˇ"(^
*ELabor
productivity
*EInflation
|
*EGDP
Per Capita
*ENet
Investment share in GDP
*ESum
of exports and imports as a percent of GDP
*EAnnual
energy consumption
*EShare
of natural- resource intensive industries in manufacturing
value- added
*ENet
resources transfer/ GDP
*ETotal
ODA given or received as a percentage of GNP
*ECapital
goods imports
*EForeign
direct investments
|
The
characteristics of Taiwan economy are:
1. Developing with high GDP growth rate
2. Export-orientation and long-term trade surplus
3. Development of small- and medium-sized enterprises
4. Star industries
5. Resource-consuming type of industry
Economic
pressure indicators mainly analyze the influence of economic
activities to environment and ecology. Through there indicators,
we can realize connection between them. The table below
shows the corresponding economic indicators to environmental
and ecological indicators.
Table
5.2 Relationship of economic with environment, resource
and ecosystem
| State
(Environment) |
State
(Resource & Ecosystem) |
Pressure
(Economic) |
|
Atmosphere
SPA1
The emission amount of CO2
SPA2
Acid Rain
SPA3
Percentage of days with PSI under 100
|
|
Structure
of Industries
PEB7
Production value of polluting industry
Environment
& Energy Consumption
PEC2
Amount of thermal generation
PEC3
Energy usage efficiency
PEC5
Number of factories per km2
PEC6
Number of personal vehicles registered
PEC9
Percentage of recycled energy
|
|
Water
SPB1
Light-polluted streams percentage
SPB2
Reservoir quality
SPB4
Groundwater quality
SPB5
Drinking-water qualified percentage
|
Soil
& Water
SRD2
Supply of water resources
|
Type
of Consumption
PEA1
Family water consumption per capita
Structure
of Industries
PEB2
Water consumption on agriculture / agricultural production
value
PEB3
Water consumption on industries / industrial production
value
PEB4
Production and export value of hog
PEB5
Import and export value of coastal fishy, production
value of aquaculture
|
|
Land
SPC1
Soil quality
|
Land
Use
SRA1
Ratio of areas depleted of natural resources
Biological
Resources
SRB2
Ratio of healthy arable land
Biodiversity
SRC1Ratio
of protected area
Soil
& Water
SRD1
Degree of erosion
|
Type
of Consumption
PEA5
Average housing price/ annual family income ratio
Structure
of Industries
PEB1
Ratio of pesticide consumption to agriculture production
valueEnvironment & Energy Consumption
PEC5
Number of factories per km2
|
|
Land
SPC2
Amount of unwell- treatment industrial waste
SPC3
Solid waste of recycling land reuse
|
|
Structure
of Industries
PEB6
GDP of manufacturing
PEB7
Production value of polluting industries
Environment
& Energy Consumption
PEC1
Amount of nuclear power generation
PEC9
Percentage of recycled energy
|
|
Atmosphere
SPA4
Environmental noise
|
|
Environment
& Energy Consumption
PEC7
Numbers of domestic flights
|
|
Land
SPC4
Growth rate of low-level radioactive wastes
|
|
Environment
& Energy ConsumptionPEC1 Amount of nuclear power
generation |
| |
Biological
Resources
SRB1
Ratio of healthy forest
|
Type
of Consumption
PEA4
Timber consumption per capita
Environment
& Energy Consumption
Pec8
Length of highways
|
Refer
to the international SDI, we increase the characteristics
of Taiwan economy, and reflect environmental and ecological
indicators to develop the economic pressure sustainable
indicators of Taiwan. Table3 shows the category, name and
code of each indicator.
Table
5.3 Indicators of Economic Pressure
| Categories
|
Indicators
|
|
A.
Type
of consumption
|
PEA1
Family water consumption per capita |
| PEA2
Family electric consumption per capita |
| PEA3
Cement consumption per capita |
| PEA4
Timber consumption per capita |
| PEA5
Average housing price /annual family income ratio |
| PEA6
Personal computer per household |
|
B.
Structure
of industries
|
PEB1
Ratio of pesticide consumption to agriculture production
value |
| PEB2
Ratio of Water consumption on agriculture to agricultural
production value |
| PEB3
Ratio of water consumption on industry to industrial
production value |
| PEB4
Production value and export value of hog |
| PEB5
Import and export value of coastal fishyˇ"(Bproduction
value of aquaculture |
| PEB6
GDP of manufacturing |
| PEB7
Production value of polluting industries |
| PEB8
Production value of environment protection industries |
| PEB9
GDP of service industries as percentage of GDP |
| PEB10
Index of labor productivity in manufacturing |
|
C.
Environment
& Energy Consumption
|
PEC1
Amount of nuclear power generation |
| PEC2
Amount of thermal generation |
| PEC3
Energy usage efficiency |
| PEC4
Energy consumption per capita |
| PEC5
Number of factories per km2 |
| PEC6
Number of personal vehicles registered |
| PEC7
Number of domestic flights |
| PEC8
Length of highways |
| PEC9
Percentage of recycled energy |
5.2
Results of Indicators Calculation
We
collected the relevant data since 1981 to judge the variance
about pressure indicators. The table below shows that the
depredation of environment and ecology made by economic
activities does not be reflected in traditional GNP. There
are 22 economic pressure indicators divided into 3 parts:
Type of consumption, Structure of Industries and Environment
& energy consumption. Within the 22 indicators, there're
12 indicators represent a rise trend, 6 indicators are on
the downside, and 4 indicators are stable. According these
indicators' trend, we can judge the influence of economic
pressure on sustainable development. Within 22 indicators,
there're 11 indicators had a positive effect to sustainable
development, but 8 indicators had a negative effect.
Table
5.4 Summary and trend of economic indicators
| Indicator
|
Trend
|
Relevance
to Sustainable Development |
| Impact
of Trend |
| +
|
-
|
?
|
| PEA1
Family water consumption per capita |
|
|
|
?
|
| PEA2
Family electric consumption per capita |
|
|
|
|
| PEA3
Cement consumption per capita |
|
+
|
|
|
| PEA4
Timber consumption per capita |
|
+
|
|
|
| PEA6
Personal computer per household |
|
+
|
|
|
| PEB1
Ratio of pesticide consumption to agriculture production
value |
|
+
|
|
|
| PEB2
Ratio of Water consumption on agriculture to agricultural
production value |
|
+
|
|
|
| PEB3
Ratio of water consumption on industry to industrial
production value |
|
+
|
|
|
| PEB4
Production value and export value of hog |
|
+
|
|
|
| PEB5
Import & export value of coastal fishy, production
value of aquaculture |
|
|
|
?
|
| PEB6
GDP of manufacturing |
|
+
|
|
|
| PEB7
Production value of polluting industries |
|
|
-
|
|
| PEB9
GDP of service industries as percentage of GDP |
|
+
|
|
|
| PEB10
Index of labor productivity in manufacturing |
|
+
|
|
|
| PEC1
Amount of nuclear power generation |
|
|
-
|
|
| PEC2
Amount of thermal generation |
|
|
-
|
|
| PEC3
Energy usage efficiency |
|
+
|
|
|
| PEC4
Energy consumption per capita |
|
|
-
|
|
| PEC5
Number of factories per km2 |
|
|
-
|
|
| PEC6
Number of personal vehicles registered |
|
|
-
|
|
| PEC7
Number of domestic flights |
|
|
|
?
|
| PEC8
Length of highways |
|
|
-
|
|
5.3
Analysis of Important Indicator
*
Polluting Industry
Polluting
industries are defined to be the industries producing what
costs a lot of pollution-prevention expenses per unit product.
According to the World Bank, the polluting industries are
referred to the six industries including paper manufacture,
printing industry, chemical materials manufacture, chemical
manufacture, petroleum and coal manufacture, non-metal mineral
manufacture and basic metals. These industries are more
resource-intense as regard to production input. However
the by-products emitted in the production process are not
recyclable and useful, and they cannot be traded via price
mechanism. In Japan, America, and other developed Western
countries, as long as the national income attains some level,
polluting products domestically produced will be getting
fewer and fewer. This is because that on one hand the demand
elasticity of the products dropped, on the other hand the
enhanced civilian environment-protection conscious brought
about the appeal that stricter environmental regulation
enacting was necessary, which has forced the polluting industries
to emigrate. By observing the changes of Taiwan` s polluting
industry production, we find that the proportion it takes
on GDP do not slip down as the income per capita increases,
on the instead, it goes up year by year. Meanwhile, according
to the time trend, the ratio of polluting industry to manufacturing
also climbs up, which deviates from the path of the perpetual
economic development, too.
*
Energy Usage Efficiency
In
1995, energy productivity of Taiwan is about 3.35 US$/LOE,
lower than the developed countries such as France, Germany,
and northern Europe, but is slightly higher than Korea and
the most energy-consumption: US. In the analysis of the
reason why energy productivity of Taiwan is lower, we find
it is due to the industry structure. With regard to energy
consumptions of all sectors, the industry sector is the
most energy-consumption. Among the industry sector, the
most energy-consumption is the petrochemical industry (mainly
chemical material), non-metal mineral manufacturing (mainly
cement producing), and the basic metal industry (mainly
steel and aluminum). Over the past 20 years, these industries
have consumed a lot of energy, only to produce about 7%
of GDP, which leads to Taiwan to a low energy productivity.
*Number
of Personal Vehicles Registered
The
privatization of transportation is defined to be the number
of automobiles and motorcycles per ten thousands population.
From 1981, this number goes up linearly (however the number
of motorcycles suddenly fell but then turned around). Currently
in Taiwan, the number of automobiles per ten thousands population
is around 2,500, and the number of motorcycles is about
5,000. What is more, there are still 200 thousands new ones
sold out annually. Although the data shows the Taiwanese
live in prosperity, but the increase in transportation tools
causes negative effects, such as air pollution, noise, vibration,
etc. The construction and utilization of transportation
facilities also lead to serious environmental problems.
For example, road constructions cause destructions of historic
spots, the destruction of ecosystems, the balance of natural
landscapes, and so on.
*Cement Consumption
Due
to the exhaustion of the lime resources and environment-protection
demands, the cement supply of the western part of Taiwan
is fewer and fewer. Recently, the contraction of government`
s public projects, coupled by the slackness in the construction
industry and the competition of low-price import cements,
has caused a downward trend in the cement production as
of 1994,and it just got steady in 1997. It takes a lot of
energy and emits all kinds of pollutions in the process
of cement production, and also destroys natural sceneries.
Besides, the emission of dioxide increases in the production
process, which harms the environment a lot.
According
to the Environmental Kuznet Curve (EKC), there is an inverse-U
relationship between the national income and the degree
of deterioration of environment. To put it differently,
in the beginning of economic development, the degree of
environmental deterioration is slighter. While the economy
is developing, the quality of environment is getting worse
as income increases. However, when the economy development
reaches a turning point, the industry structure will transform
from manufacturing industries to service or tech-intense
industries, and the quality of environment will begin to
improve. Moreover, as the income level is getting higher,
civilian environmental consciousness will be enhanced, prompting
the government to enact stricter laws and implement more
investment on environmental protection.
Now
that the national income per capita in Taiwan has grown
to around $12,000, according to EKC, the quality of environment
should begin to improve step by step. However, if we examine
the relation between emission of air pollution, amount of
solid waste collected, and national income, we find that
the amount of solid waste collected per capita per day do
not decrease as national income increases (Chart 5); on
the contrary, it goes up year by year. However, the total
suspended particulate reveals a downward trend in recent
years (Chart 6).
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