Policy review of greenhouse gas emission reduction in Taiwan

In 2008, Taiwan government passed a set of rules designed to achieve a sizable reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, namely, “Frameworks of Sustainable Energy Policy”. The target of the policy is to keep CO2 emissions during the 2016–2020 periods at the 2008 level, to reduce them to the 2000 level in 2025, and to cut that level in half by 2050. Currently, the acts of “Statute for Renewable Energy Development” and “Energy Management Act (amendment)” is being implemented while those of “Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Reduction Act (draft)” and “Regulation for Energy Tax (draft)” is being scheduled for legislative reviewing. These acts deal with GHG emission reduction via various policy instruments such as cap and trade, subsidies, and taxes. The present paper presents a detailed review of the policy progress of GHG emission reduction in Taiwan in addition to the assessment of the outcome of GHG emission reduction in the past decade. It also proposed the priority of policy implementation of GHG emission reduction in the country in the post-Kyoto era.