| Summary: | 博士 === 國立政治大學 === 地政學系 === 87 === After the Industrial Revolution, traditional economic development models have successfully made economic activities and economic growth a political issue for most countries around the world. However, with the greatly enhanced industrial productivity has come instensified uses of the resources of the earth, and the ecological depletion rate resulting from solid waste volumes has far exceeded nature''s regenerative capacities. On the other hand, due to the influence of technology and trade, the natural biological metabolism, already carrying a human load, is being expanded and intensified by the industrial metabolism. In highly industrialized countries, the degree and form of material consumption has been inspired by consumerism, engendering virtually unlimited consumption and waste. In recent years, while Taiwan has been seeking to join the World Trade Organization (WTO), there have been pervasive discussions on the subject of trade and the environment. Among these, agricultural issues have been prevalent. Should Taiwan join the WTO, will the farmland transformation policy permit land resource usage to meet the objectives for sustainable development? This question is the motivation for this dissertation.
This dissertation is based on the ecological footprint analysis, along with trade and sustainable development theories. The timeframe for reseach extends from 1991 to 1996, focussing on Taiwan''s agricultural industry. Ecological footprint analyses were calculated based on factual evidence/data from Taiwan''s arable land and pasture land. In terms of applied theories, first, considering both the comprehensive entirety as well as individual discrete segments, we conclude that the definitions of eco-economics are in agreement with the concept of the strong sustainability. Next, we reconsider the definition of human carrying capacity, not basing this concept on the support of a maximum population base (Unit: per capita/ha), but rather on the calculation of the land and water needed by a certain group (Unit: ha/per capita), existing on a continuous base, to effectively produce all consumer materials and absorb all solid waste. In respect to trade and sustainable development theories, we use related studies such as IISD（1994、1995）, ICTSD（1995）, and Cosbey（1998） to be our theoretical base. Finally, we combine the three theoretical constructs, namely the concept of the ecological footprint, trade, and sustainable development.
In carrying out our research on factual evidence/data, this dissertation modifies research previously conducted by a number of researchers. We redefine the calculation parameters for Taiwan''s ecological footprint, finely calculating the ecological footprint for the agriculture industry (arable land and pasture land) for Taiwan in the 1991 to 1996 period. We learn that in terms of agricultural usage and consumption in Taiwan, the five key items with the largest shares of the arable land footprint are: rice, other cereals, pulses, seed oils, and import/export textile yarn, fabrics, articles of apparel and clothing accessories, footwear. Factors demonstrating the greatest influence on Taiwan''s pasture land ecological footprint are: wool and leather, and animal hides. When we compare these findings with policies of the Council of Agriculture for entering into the WTO, we confirm that rice and pulses are indeed the two items of greatest importance. Therefore, this dissertation will focus on the rice and pulses industry before and after entering into the WTO, and on their influence on Taiwan''s ecological footprint, ecological benchmark, and ecological deficit. We will also analyze possible consequences should these two industries be transformed to non-agricultural uses, or, if no such changes are instituted, what the consequences will be for Taiwan''s ecological footprint. Based on these findings, we will evaluate whether the allowance of entry of these two industries into the WTO is a sustainable strategy.
Our research findings reveal that, whether or not we transform farmlands from the rice and pulses industries, there will be no significant impacts on the anticipated gap between the ecological footprint and the arable land ecological benchmark. This means there will be no significant change should there be entering into the WTO. Thus, from the perspective of ecological footprint analysis, if we join the WTO and the result is an increase in imports, this will enhance our industrial productivity; imported items will be fully consumed domestically; the greater the influence on domestic production volumes the greater the decrease in the ecological footprint area; and, farmlands will be transformed to non-agricultural uses. Because of the above four factors, it can be said that joining the WTO will probably be considered as a policy of sustainability.
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