Taiwan sets key target to reach 2% cut in GHG emissions by 2020

According to Article 11 of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction and Management Act, regulatory goals to cut down on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions will be set in stages on a five-year basis. After thorough discussions, Taiwan EPA has reached a consensus with the competent authorities of different sectors on the reduction targets of each stage, and a draft was proposed to address the regulatory goal of the first stage.

The key target of the first stage is to cut GHG emissions by 2% below 2005 levels by 2020, which is equivalent to dropping CO2 emissions to 260.717 million tons carbon equivalent. The government has also set key targets for the second and third stage. The second stage will last from 2020 to 2025, and is designated to cut GHG emissions by 10% below 2005 levels by 2025. The third stage has a target of cutting GHG emissions by 20% below 2005 by 2030.

Cutting down on carbon emissions requires joint efforts of the energy, manufacturing, transportation, business, agriculture, and environment sectors. Taiwan EPA will launch public hearings in the distant future to solicit opinions from stakeholders of all sectors and submit them along with the draft to the Executive Yuan for final review and approval.

In addition to the regulatory goals of the first stage, the draft also contains information with regards to the overall performance of the abovementioned sectors. When setting feasible reduction targets for each sector, Taiwan EPA has taken the following factors into consideration: sources of GHG emissions, current levels of emissions, trend of CO2 reduction, and the sector’s potential to reduce emissions. It is possible that the energy sector will experience an increase in GHG emissions in the early stage of energy transition. However, the EPA urges the sector to work hard to reach its electricity emission factoremission goals.

Additionally, substantial and supplementary measures will be enforced simultaneously to achieve CO2 reduction goals. Competent authorities of the six sectors, including the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Ministry of Transportation, the Ministry of Interior, and the Council of Agriculture under the Executive Yuan have contributed to the draft and set specific reduction goals for each sector. Once the goals are approved by the Executive Yuan, competent authorities of each sector are required to make annual reports on the key achievements, and review yearly data to monitor emission levels. Stringent measures will also be taken to help underperforming sectors. For instance, the sectors will be asked to propose improvement plans, which the competent authorities will review regularly to make sure they are on track. The EPA hopes these measures will help Taiwan achieve its long-term goal, which is to reduce GHG emissions by 50% from 2005 levels by 2050.

Source: http://enews.epa.gov.tw/enews/fact_Newsdetail.asp?InputTime=1061108145846