WRITE HER-STORY INTO GREEN 21 CENTURY
Opening Ceremony Speech
H.E. Lu Hsiu-lien Annette
Host, 2012 BPW Asia Pacific Regional Conference
Former Vice-President of Taiwan, 2000-2008
International President Freda Miriklis, 5 past International Presidents, Chairman Su Tseng-chang of DPP, Ambassadors and Representatives, sisters of BPW, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen:
It is a great honor for BPW Taiwan to host the IFBPW 2012 Asia Pacific Regional Conference. On behalf of the organizing committee, I sincerely welcome you to Taiwan. I would like to express my heartfelt appreciation for Ms. Freda Miriklis, International President of BPW, and Ms. Susan Jones, the Asia Pacific regional coordinator, for their full support and assistance. Please join me to thank my organizing committee members for their tireless efforts to prepare today’s conference.
Warm welcome is extended to 5 past International Presidents of IFBPW and distinguished speakers of the Conference. Also, let us welcome the biggest delegation from Korea with 36members, who will host the IFBPW’s next Global Congress in Jeju Island. From Japan we have 23 sisters. Including Taiwan we have 339 participants from 24 countries totally. Your active participation is a compliment to the conference.
In the fall of 1995, UN held the fourth World Women’s Conference in Beijing. The major concerns back in the mid-1990s were primarily on poverty, violence against women, and gender discrimination. Today, we are meeting here to explore subject matters as: women, power, earth crisis, and green economy. These issues did not come up in Beijing, until the Earth Day 2011 that the role of women on green economy was first addressed, but they will become crucial topics for the decade. How can we integrate four seemingly unrelated issues and highlight their importance? How can we empower women to promote economic growth and to save the earth?
Women in Taiwan and in Asia
As you know, the global population is over seven billion and half is female. In the past, many women did not work or worked at a subsistence level, making women an economical dependent population. But in the near future, things will be totally different.
Let us start with Taiwan’s women.
As you may have known, it is me who initiated Taiwan’s feminist movement in 1971. Back in the 1970s, a considerable percentage of Taiwan’s grown-upwomen did not go to school, and very few went out of their homes to work. Through decades of struggles, including the spread of feminism and the substantial reforms in education, in legislation and in national policies, our substantial achievements in terms of gender equality, empowering women and improving women’s lives have been realized. Today, the average life expectancy for Taiwan’s women is 82, and 37% of Taiwan’s women have college degree or higher. Economically, womennoware placed in 44 percent of technical positions, and one-third oftheownership ofbusinesscompanies. Business and professional women hold top positions across a spectrum of professions. Politically, we had the first female candidate for the president of Taiwan earlier this year, regretfully she lost by a small margin. There are 33.6% of female members in the parliament. When measured by the UNDP’s indicators to compare gender development, Taiwan’s women rank 4th in the world and perhaps 1st in Asia.
Most of our sisters at this conference come from Asia, which accounts for 60% of the world’s population. Women in Asian countries are approximately 2 billion. Are they happy? Are they free, independent and empowered?
In the past decades, the governments in India, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Philippines, New Zealand, and Australia have been led by female leaders. It is likely that Korea will elect the first lady president on December 19. However, with the exceptions of New Zealand and Australia, almost all these women came to power because of their family linkage. Either their husband or father was the head of the state or government; they were not on their own. Some were proven to be good leaders, but others were not. Whether these female national leaders truly cared about women’s interests and helped promote women’s status is another question.
Though I was the Vice President, not the President in Taiwan, I am very exceptional from those Asian female politicians. Born in an ordinary family, twice in my childhood I was nearly adopted. I had my first pair of leather shoes at the age of 12. Always I studied hard and worked hard. In 1971, I initiated the feminism movement and in 1979 I became one of the opposition leaders and was arrested and charged on sedition and eventually have spent 6 years in prison. After we conclude this conference, I will bring you to visit the Military Detention House where I was jailed. During the military trial, 15 lawyers defended me and my comrades. One of them is here with us, our former Premier and now party chair, Mr. Su Tseng-chang.
From dark prison to glorious presidential palace, never have I forgotten to promote women’s interests and people’s wellbeing. I am not only the first female Vice President in Taiwan, but also the only 8-year, 2-term Vice President elected by the people.
21st Century: A Century for She-Economy
Believe it or not, the 21st century is a century for she-economy! In fact, women made 85% of consumer choices. It is expected that in the next decade, about 870 millionwomen around the world will enter the job market and contributed to the world economy. Among them, 822 million come from non-industrialized countries. They will create work and start businesses and the gender gap in earnings will be narrowed down. Mobile and Internet technologies will help women run businesses easier and overcome the legal or traditional barriers that prevented them from participating.
In deed, the era for she-economy has come! In 2009, the total combined income of women in the world was $13 trillion, and it is expected to add up $5 trillion in 2014. With good income women will become good consumers. More products are designed and marketed specifically for women, or suiting women’s taste. Women have a unique taste for what they like to buy and use. Businesswomen certainly know better than men for what women really like and need. It is a great advantage to start our businesses based on our female characteristics. As Newsweek describes, “it is the real emerging market.”
What are female characteristics in she-economy? Compared to men, businesswomen tend to start businesses from humanitarian perspective, caring more about environmental protection and ecology, and sense of beauty. More women in business means more humanity, more green economy, and more artistic interests. In a word, women tend to be the pivotal power for the substantial development of the globe. While he-economy pursuits for self-interest, expansion and exploitation, she-economy reflects a value of humanity, greenness, and benevolence. While he-economy stresses on “hard power,” she-economy elaborates “soft power.” Unlike hard power, soft power is constructive and generous in nature, and the more you give, the better you receive.
21st Century: A Century of Natural Disasters
The 21st century is labeled to be a century of Asia, it is also deemed to be a century of natural disasters. A report from German Watch indicates that between 1991 and 2010, 710 thousand people died from over 14,000 extreme climate damages globally, causing total losses equivalent to 2.3 trillion US dollars. While some praise the development and prosperity in Asia, may I remind you that, according to UN’s report, 70% of the world’s major natural disasters have occurred in the Asia Pacific region, and opportunities of this region suffering from natural impact are 4 times more than Africa, and 25 times more than America and Europe!
Right after Hurricane Sandy occurring in the northeastern coast of America, world experts warn that 15 big cities in Asian countries are also endangered by hurricanes and natural disasters.
In deed, our mother earth and human beings are facing more threats than we normally think, including earthquake, tsunami, flood, forest fire, volcanic eruption, typhoon and hurricane, landslide, heat wave, ice melting, sandstorms, etc. All these natural catastrophes are caused or deteriorated by Ozone layer depletion, magnetic anomaly, and solar storms, other than global warming. What happened in Japan last year and in New York last month demonstrated the destructive power of great nature. Regrettably, the fictional movie “The Day After Tomorrow” has become reality.
The most up-to-date report made on November 28 at the 2012 UN Climate Change Conference in Doha, Qatar indicates that, the sea level has raised up 3.2 millimeters per year recently, higher than 2 millimeters projected by UN IPCC in 2007.
21st Century: A Century for Green Growth
There is only one earth and humankind is one family. In 1997 the Kyoto Protocol called for the world to seek solutions to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases. Not until 2007 did many heads of big nations such as USA, China, and Australia express their serious concerns and promise to take actions. Later in Copenhagen in 2009 President Lee Myung-bak of Korea delivered a “Me First” keynote speech and began to trigger a 5-year-plan for Green Growth (2009~2014), with an annual budget of 2% of their national GDP to spend, including
1. Green energy,
2. Green technology and industry,
3. Green city, transportation and building, and
4. Green life.
The 5-year-plan is forged with a hope to eventually construct a resource recycling society, minimize environmental damage, and cultivate a new lifestyle in green consumption. When people learn to refrain from over-consumption and to cherish things on earth, the earth will have an opportunity for relief and survival.
When green lifestyle becomes a fashion, green economy begins to blossom. The economic activities in green economy serve the purpose of enhancing the earth’s natural capital, reducing environmental risks and natural resource depletion. In the long run the welfare and equality of human beings will be assured. This leads several industries to become the future superstars: renewable energy, low-carbon transportation, green building, sustainable waste management, water resource management, sustainable land management, sustainable fishery, and clean technology, etc.
Green Energy
We know that fossil fuels such as oil and gas are non-renewable resources, and it takes them millions of years to form. Reserves are depleted much faster than new ones are made. The production and use of fossil fuels raise environmental concerns. The generation of renewable energy is therefore under way to help meet increased energy needs.
At present, renewable energy provides 19% of electricity generation worldwide, and wind power is increasing at an annual rate of 20%, and solar power generators may produce most of the world’s electricity within 50 years.
Japan shut down 52 nuclear power plants right after the Fukushima disaster. Some communities decide to generate their own electricity with their own power plants. A homemakers’ union in Hokkaido, Japan, started a wind power plant project. This is so-called People’s Power Plant based on the theory of “Energy Democracy.”
Less Meat, Less Heat
Speaking of the greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide is not the only factor contributing to global warming. A more serious but often underestimated element that leads to the accelerating global warming phenomenon is methane which occupies 51% of greenhouse gases. The global warming potential of methane is 72 times higher than carbon dioxide. Other than the permafrost (permanently frozen ground) down to the bottom of North and South Poles, the main cause of methane is from the wastes produced by livestock breeding industry.
Meat consumption in developing world is increasing rapidly, and tons of grains and clean water are used for livestock and for biofuel industries. It takes one third of the land on earth to raise cattle and livestock. It also consumes and pollutes water and soil. Without breeding livestock, rain forests can be preserved and land can be better utilized to grow food for humankind. Then 2 billion people can be freed from starvation, 1 billion people be freed from water shortage, and most importantly, the global warming crisis can effectively be stopped from accelerating!
Humans derive about 20% of their protein from animal-based products now, but this shall drop to just 5% by 2050 so that 9 billion people can be fed. Scientists have warned us that very soon nations might fight against each other for food, and the world's population may have to switch almost completely to a vegetarian diet over the next 40 years to avoid catastrophic shortages.
It is therefore rational and absolutely necessary to urge people to stop eating meat, at least to eat as little as possible. The more meat people eat, the more livestock will be bred and killed. To stop eating meat means to stop killing and to stop wasting land and water and food, and of course, to rescue our mother earth.
As a matter of fact, dietetics teaches us that vegetarian food is no less safe, healthy and nutritious. Religious belief also preaches us that no one is entitled to deprive other’s life, including animals, which shall be treated as friends rather than as enemies. And human beings do not kill their friends!
Who cooks meals? Some men do, but nearly all women do the cooking. If women decide not to cook meat, then men will have to stop eating meat and less livestock will be bred and our mother earth will not be ruined so rapidly. For this purpose, I myself have changed to become a vegetarian for over a year. Let me prove to you that vegetables improve one’s health in body, soul, and spirit. It also makes you happier.
Green Revolution in Taiwan
Shortly after the earthquake and nuclear catastrophe in Fukushima, Japan, I decided to devote myself to launching the campaign: “Save the Earth, Care for Taiwan.” On February 12, Green 21 Taiwan Alliance was established and a series of activities to campaign for “Less Meat, Less Heat” has been carried out. Across the nation, I have made over a hundred lectures, and over ten thousand people who are not vegetarians have attended our Green Diet Banquets. We also have a Green Kitchen Project to teach people how to cook green food without meats, notwithstanding meat is a favorite in traditional Taiwanese cooking.
Taiwan is a mountainous country, 70 percent covered by mountains, and located in zones where typhoons and earthquakes frequently occur. In the past half a century, in our pursuit for development, tourism, and good living, we have over-built and over-developed, and landslides and mudslides are more frequent and extreme, natural and human-caused disasters more prevalent.
Moreover, we have three aging nuclear power plants plus the fourth one under construction. Taiwan is so tiny an island yet is the second most densely populated country on earth. “Nuclear-Free Homeland” is the only choice for her sustainable development. A nuclear-free homeland requires a set of energy saving and carbon reduction strategies, and greater efforts to increase the proportion of wind, water and solar-generated energy sources.
From Three-Mile Island in the U.S., Chernobyl in Ukraine, to Fukushima in Japan, we know that nuclear power is devastating once an accident happens. According to The Wall Street Journal, “four Nuke power plants in Taiwan are all listed in the most dangerous fourteen ones in the world.” That’s why I have to launch a referendum to block our fourth nuclear plant from operation before the nuclear fuel rods are installed next year, at the same time while I have been busy with organizing this conference. Your spiritual support will strengthen our confidence to win the battle!
Green Civilization
The geographic records indicate that there had been 5 great extinctions to destroy the earth throughout the last 500 million years. These records remind us that currently we are in the mid-term of the 6th Great Extinction. In recent years, spices on earth have been extinguished in an incredible speed.
Therefore, in 1992, 1600 senior scientists, including most Nobel Laureates, cosigned a historical statement to warn the world that, humankind is facing the crisis of vanishment. There are only ten to tens of years for us to prevent the menace, but we have to change our lifestyle and to improve our management of the earth before it is too late.
We humankind always boast that we are the smartest animals on earth. But don’t forget that humankind cannot survive without the earth and yet the earth can survive without humankind. In fact, according to biologists, ants are more important than humankind for the existence of the earth. Ants penetrate soil and help soil ventilate. They also help spread pollen of plants. Humankind cultivates the land but they also exploit and destroy the great nature.
During my 8-year vice presidency, I have been promoting a philosophy of “Four Balanced Interests of Value,” namely:
1. The value of life.
2. The standard of livelihood.
3. The quality of environment.
4. The benefit of industrial investment.
I firmly believe that there is no justification to pursue industrial benefit at the cost of people’s lives or living standard or the environment. Without life, nothing is left; without earth, no life can exist. Life prevails over everything and anything! My philosophy agrees with green values that has been promoted in recent years, and deserves to be promoted universally.
The Old Testament told us that, God created Adam and Eve and let them live in the Garden of Eden. Thousands years later their offspring grow up to 7 billion but the only Garden of Eden remains the same. Humankind has no other place to live but on earth.
Dear sisters, we are the descendants of Eve who gave birth to lives in Eden. We should be proud of her courage and wisdom. We should take our solemn responsibility to care for our mother earth for the present and future generations. Without a healthy mother earth, everything we own could become zero in a sudden.
To face the unprecedented, multiple challenges and crises coming our way, we women have to face the problems and overcome them! It is time to equip women with green knowledge and green talent for the opportunity of green jobs and green economy. Green means earth, and green also means health and wealth!
My dear BPW sisters, please bear in mind that 21st century is a green century. There is so much work to do but so little time we have. Let’s begin to launch a green revolution and create a green civilization! Let’s write her-story into green 21 century.
Thank you.
留言列表
傳奇篇 (2)
