In November 2005, we published a cover story on the principles of a low-carbon life, including an exclusive interview with Chang Kow-lung, who had just become minister of the Environmental Protection Administration. Chang, who was also a professor of physics at National Taiwan University, argued that carbon reductions were an issue of social justice and attacked Taiwan's exceptionally low water, electricity, and fuel prices as "barbaric."

Chang mentioned the EPA's promotion of a new greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction act and promised the government would faithfully implement the Kyoto Protocol and the conclusions of the National Energy Conference. He also promised that growth in Taiwan's total carbon emissions would be limited to under 1% per year (i.e. that carbon emissions in 2025 would not exceed 13 tons per capita).

Unfortunately, the GHG reduction act has languished in the legislature for the last four and a half years. The reason is simple: it relies on a cap on carbon emissions that would necessarily become tighter over time. This has sparked a mad scramble by carbon emitters-broadly, by industry, agriculture, and the household sector, and more narrowly by specific industries (e.g. power, steel, petrochemicals, IT, textiles, etc.). In an environment in which the economy and public opinion take precedence over everything else, who is going to be willing to risk their political life by stirring up this hornet's nest?

In fact, the government is very familiar with the issue. In a Weekly Report made during the Copenhagen conference last December, President Ma Ying-jeou stated that while Taiwan accounts for just 0.3% of the world's population, it has accounted for 1% of its GHG emissions from 1990 to the present. In a speech a few days ago, Deputy Premier Eric Chu also reminded his listeners that Taiwan's annual carbon emissions amount to 12 tons per capita, or nearly three times the world average, and argued that this would be a serious challenge for Taiwan in the future.

Though resistance from all sectors has limited government action, the majority of the public has begun to change its view of the issue and prospects for progress look better than they did four and a half years ago. Nowadays, no one thinks about CO2 reductions in terms of social justice. In the wake of the devastating flooding from last year's Typhoon Morakot, every single citizen has become profoundly aware that carbon reductions are a matter of life and death for the human race and that Taiwan is especially vulnerable.

Just as former EPA minister Lin Jun-yi predicted: capitalism and environmentalism will go to war in the 21st Century. And no matter how humanity attempts to dodge or resist, environmentalism will ultimately win out.

Taiwan is well acquainted with this war. While holding fast to the business principle of finding opportunities in risks, our tech industry has been linking capitalism to environmentalism, and turning energy savings into competitive advantage. This month's cover story examines the tech industry's exceptional achievements.

But the tech industry can't go it alone. As Taiwan Semiconductor's Hsu Fang-ming says, "If you want to reduce carbon emissions, you need more than one firm working at it. To do it effectively, you need the entire business community, the entire nation involved." Taiwan's tech industry is acting. It's time for our other industries to get on board.

This month's issue also includes a piece that looks at "green burials," including tree burials, scattering of ashes, and sea burials. As the Venerable Master Sheng Yen once said, when the flesh passes away, the spirit escapes its bindings; there's no reason to be so attached to the empty vessel that remains. If we are to save ourselves and the world, we must give up our obsession with extravagant burials.