Taiwan Today

Taiwan seeks a more active role in the global fight against climate change.

This past August saw the Cabinet-level Environmental Protection Administration upgraded to the Ministry of Environment (MOENV). During the inaugural ceremony in Taipei City, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) emphasized the urgency of accelerating progress toward net-zero emissions to achieve environmental sustainability and enhance Taiwan’s competitiveness on the global stage. As part of the administration’s work to meet this pressing need, the restructured agency oversees the Climate Change Administration, which started as the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Management Office in 2008, while the government-funded Taiwan Carbon Solution Exchange (TCX) was recently established following the Climate Change Response Act announced in February. Earlier in August, the president also visited the latter’s headquarters in the southern city of Kaohsiung to attend its official opening.

In the international arena, Taiwan continues to seek meaningful participation in the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its annual Conference of the Parties (COP), the world’s largest climate summit bringing together top representatives of government, business, academia and civil society to reach agreements and coordinate strategies to address global warming-related issues. COP28 takes place in Dubai from Nov. 30 to Dec. 12, intending to take stock of the world’s progress since adopting the Paris Agreement in 2015, further reduce emissions to meet the target of 43 percent below 2019 levels by 2030, amend adaptation plans and address losses and damage.

As Taiwan is excluded from the U.N., it cannot officially take part in any of the organization’s activities, mechanisms or meetings. Nevertheless, the country has been tenacious in its engagement. The MOENV’s predecessor partnered with domestic nongovernmental organizations to arrange a delegation of public and private sector representatives to hold exhibitions and sideline events during the conference. Local organizations are also allowed to send unofficial observers to UNFCCC events. Among the entities granted observer status are state-backed Industrial Technology Research Institute headquartered in the northern county of Hsinchu, Taiwan Institute for Sustainable Energy in Taipei and Taiwan Research Institute in New Taipei City. Earlier this year, the capital’s CTCI Education Foundation announced that it was the 11th group from Taiwan to receive approval to attend.

Steady Progress

Taiwan’s bid for constructive, pragmatic and professional participation in the UNFCCC has won extensive support in the international community, and the country stands ready to expand cooperation with allies and like-minded partners to combat climate change and reach net-zero emissions by 2050, according to MOENV Minister Shieu Fuh-sheng (薛富盛). “Health and environmental issues transcend politics and national borders because no country can solve a global climate crisis alone,” Shieu said. “Taiwan must be allowed a place in international policymaking systems and response mechanisms.” The country’s forced absence from the global network undermines progress at home in addition to restricting its ability to fully contribute to the global good. “We’ve been offering assistance and undertaking exchanges in areas including agricultural techniques, medical care, public health, pollution control and sustainable energy development,” Shieu said. “We’ve repeatedly demonstrated that we’re willing and able to share our expertise and knowledge with others.”

Environmental policies are high on Taiwan’s agenda, with long-term emission targets enshrined into law. This year the Greenhouse Gas Reduction and Management Act promulgated in 2015 was revised and renamed the Climate Change Response Act to reinforce the government’s net-zero plans. Prompted by the amended legislation, which introduces carbon fees and relevant market systems, the TCX was jointly established by the Taiwan Stock Exchange and the Executive Yuan’s National Development Fund. The moves will ensure the country stays on track to reach goals outlined in Taiwan’s Pathway to Net-Zero Emissions in 2050. After consultations with ministries and other Cabinet-level agencies, the National Development Council last year released systematic strategies for strengthening climate legislation and technological R&D to trigger energy, industrial and societal green transitions.

The country is already making substantial headway in the energy sector. In 2022, renewables generated more than 23.8 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity and accounted for 8.3 percent of the nation’s total, up from 4.6 percent in 2017. Respectively making up 45 percent and 135 percent of average annual growth during the past five years, solar and offshore wind power are the fastest-growing green energy sources. Based on MOENV statistics over the same period, the installed national renewable energy capacity increased by an average of 21.9 percent annually, outperforming both the global figure of 9.1 percent and neighboring countries such as China, Japan and South Korea. Currently, Taiwan’s solar power capacity exceeds 10 gigawatts and is expected to double by 2025, while over 240 wind turbines in the Taiwan Strait can produce more than 1.9 GW, according to the Ministry of Economic Affairs. The ministry reiterated the government’s goal of reaching 5.6 GW in offshore wind farm capacity by 2025 and highlighted that all existing turbines easily withstood Typhoon Haikui, the first such storm to cross the Taiwan Strait in four years. Additional power sources being explored include biogas, geothermal energy and marine currents, it said.

Local Contributions

While Taiwan’s economic growth is decoupling from fossil fuels, with its carbon dioxide emissions per unit of gross domestic product steadily dropping in recent years, city and county governments must also play an active role if the country is to meet its environmental pledges, Shieu said. One frontrunner in green transformation is southern Taiwan’s Tainan City Government, which introduced the concept of carbon reduction to urban planning in 2012. The first regulation of its kind among the country’s local governments, it requires users consuming 800 or more kilowatts of electricity to install solar power facilities that provide at least 10 percent of their energy needs. In June last year, the city released its own pathway to net-zero emissions by 2050 in which it lays out phased decreases of 30 percent and 65 percent below 2005 levels by 2030 and 2040, respectively. “The new ordinance has taken shape as a result of discussions among academics, civic groups and experts and will guide urban development toward a more sustainable Tainan,” said Mayor Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲).

The city has become a national leader in the drive to expand green energy with its installation of floating, ground-mounted and rooftop solar power systems. Their cumulative capacity has reached 3.9 GW, surpassing all other municipalities in Taiwan. Upgraded energy management systems are also moving Tainan’s schools toward greater energy self-sufficiency, with solar power now meeting most campus electricity needs. According to Huang, the city’s renewable energy initiatives were even a major factor in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.’s choice of Tainan’s Southern Taiwan Science Park as the base for its most advanced three-nanometer chip production facility. The world’s largest contract chip manufacturer has joined the RE100 global corporate energy initiative, under which influential businesses promote full reliance on green electricity. “For similar reasons, more domestic and foreign companies in the semiconductor industry are setting up plants in Tainan, and the trend is adding momentum to the city’s business restructuring,” the mayor said.

In 2009, Tainan joined the Local Governments for Sustainability, a UNFCCC-accredited organization headquartered in Bonn, Germany, that connects more than 1,750 local and regional governments worldwide, including 12 member cities and counties in Taiwan. Tainan has also committed to the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy founded in 2016 in Brussels. For the last three years running, Huang has sent representatives from the Environmental Protection Bureau to take part in COP events and share the municipality’s experience in energy restructuring, oil furnace replacement, low-carbon transportation and circular economy. “Tainan’s international connections can be traced back four centuries,” the mayor said, referring to the upcoming 400th anniversary of recorded settlement in the area since the Age of Exploration. “As a responsible part of the international community, we’re doing our job to help achieve U.N. Sustainable Development Goals and the global net-zero vision.”

Write to Pat Gao at cjkao@mofa.gov.tw