Monthly News Review: August 2022
The Chinese National Federation of Industries (CNFD) urges the government to review the current climate policy
Why should you know about it?
The latest White Paper from the industrial group proposed a number of suggestions that are in conflict with the government’s 2050 net-zero emissions plan.
The News:
Since 2008, the Chinese National Federation of Industries (CNFD) has been publishing annual White Papers with recommendations for Taiwan’s industrial policy. In the latest “2022 White Paper”, the CNFD welcomed the government’s resolution on the net-zero transition and urged the government to accelerate the development of geothermal energy, hydrogen fueling, electric vehicles, and carbon pricing.
Yet, the CNFD advised the government “to observe the effectiveness of the implementation of net-zero policies in other countries and estimate the progress of domestic implementation, before deciding whether to amend the 2050 net-zero emissions target in law.” The CNFD believed that Taiwan’s nuclear-free renewable energy policy is making net-zero impossible and claimed that “Only the EU and 12 other countries in the world had announced to include net-zero targets in law.”
The White Paper emphasised the importance of carbon pricing but opposed the government’s plan to apply the surcharge onto the energy and industrial sectors first and claimed the government’s proposed carbon fee (NT$100/tCO2e) is too high. The CNFD also suggested that at least 70% of the carbon fee should be used to subsidise industrial low-carbon transition.
According to “Taiwan’s Pathway to Net-Zero Emissions in 2050”, released on 30 March, Taiwan’s energy transition strategy will prioritise wind and solar photovoltaic (PV) deployment in the short-term, and develop hydrogen, ammonia, biomass, geothermal and ocean energy in the long-term. Nuclear power is excluded.
According to the Executive Yuan’s draft revision of the “Greenhouse Gas Reduction and Management Act” released on 4 April, the law will be renamed as “Climate Change Response Act” and include the goal of net-zero emissions by 2050.
Our View:
Apparently, the CNFD is a supporter of climate action like other environmental NGOs, but we believe the devil is in the details.
According to Net-Zero Tracker, 20 countries had made their 2050 net-zero emissions targets in law, with 74 more countries on the way. The CNFD counted all EU member states as one entity, which as we believe, is not a proper way to reflect the international trend.
Although the government has not officially published its plan, according to the media, the government’s proposed carbon fee plan is NT$100/tCO2e. While the CNFD believed it’s too high, environmental NGOs such as Greenpeace Taiwan believe the carbon fee should “not be less than NT$300/tCO2e and should rise to NT$2000/tCO2e by 2030.”
Besides, we believe that the “usage” of the carbon fee is equally important. If we follow the CNFD’s suggestion, the carbon fee charged from the emitters will be returned to the emitters again as a subsidy, instead of supporting technological innovations of a just energy transition.
The CNFD is one of the most influential stakeholders in the net-zero transition, but it does not represent the entire industry. The government should consider opinions from different stakeholder groups, including SMEs and local businesses, during the decision-making process.
Further reading
NGOs called for more inclusive net-zero policy making approach
Why should you know about it?
The government had launched a series of events to communicate its plan to implement the 2050 net-zero emissions target,but some NGOs said the events are not inclusive enough.
The News:
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) held a policy communication meeting on “Green Lifestyle” on the 17th of August. It is one of the 12 key strategies that are identified as a high priority in Taiwan’s Pathway to Net-Zero Emissions in 2050”, released on 30 March.
The event introduced the EPA’s draft plan to encourage behaviour change needed to achieve net-zero emissions, and invited three businesses to share their experiences in producing and promoting sustainable products. Participants included academics, industries, and NGOs including TWYCC.
The EPA’s draft “Green Lifestyle” plan includes six major dimensions: low-carbon diet, green design, housing quality, low-carbon transportation, from ownership to usership, and dialogue for all. To implement these dimensions, a total of 31 key initiatives and 68 actions were proposed.
Our View
As Taiwan’s progress to net-zero has moved from planning to implementation phase, more detailed policies are expected to be announced in the following months. We appreciate the EPA’s effort to continue hosting public communications meetings after the announcement of the net-zero pathway in March 2022. We urge the responsible government authorities to 12 key strategies to learn from the EPA to make our net-zero policy more inclusive.
We believe the current public communication meeting can be improved: 1) Increase the discussion time so that participants can fully discuss rather than passively listen to the report; 2) Encourage different stakeholders to exchange their views on the policy proposal; 3) Provide a summarised policy report rather than draft so the participants can focus on potential conflicts.
In terms of EPA’s draft on “Green Lifestyle”, we believe the current plan is a collection of the government’s existing measures, rather than a comprehensive strategy to drive behavioural changes from the public. Besides, the EPA should introduce stronger legal instruments to ensure the transition progress could keep up with the national net-zero ambitions.
Further reading
(Mandarin only)
Executive writers: Shun-Te Wang and Sophia Chueh
Translators: Shun-Te Wang
Proofreader: Edward Sihua Yang
