Taiwan revises 2030 carbon reduction target upwards

Taipei, Dec. 30 (CNA) Taiwan has revised its 2030 target for the reduction of carbon emissions upwards though it cautioned that uncertainties over electricity usage and climate change technologies remained.

The country will now pursue a goal of reducing carbon emissions by 26-30 percent by 2030 compared to 2005 levels, up from the previous goal of 23-25 percent set in December 2022, Environment Minister Peng Chi-ming (彭啓明) said at a press conference Monday.

The wider margin of error than the previous forecast was due to several uncertainties on the horizon, including international political and economic developments, which could affect progress on climate change issues differently across countries, Peng said.

It also reflected uncertainty over bottlenecks and breakthroughs in climate change technologies, changes in domestic electricity consumption due to the needs of artificial intelligence applications, and funding available for carbon reduction investment, Peng said.

Based on Ministry of Environment (MoENV) statistics, Taiwan's net carbon emissions in 2022 totaled 264.13 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2e), down from 268.89 MtCO2e in 2005.

It is currently estimated that by 2025, the reduction will approach 10 percent, Peng said.

Compared to neighboring countries in Asia, when using the same baseline year (2005), Taiwan's 2030 carbon reduction target is second only to Japan's 41 percent, while South Korea is aiming for a reduction of approximately 14 percent, he said.

Taiwan has a steep hill to climb on emissions, however, if the metric used is per capita emissions.

In Germanwatch's latest Climate Change Performance Index, issued in November, Taiwan was one of 13 economies among 64 surveyed that was rated "very low" in the "Greenhouse Gas Emissions" category, which focuses on GHG per capita.

South Korea and China were also rated very low in the category, though Taiwan did get a "medium" rating for one indicator -- GHG per capita based on current trends -- according to the index.

To combat carbon emissions, Taiwan has decided to pressure big emitters first to cut emissions by beginning to levy carbon fees in 2026 on entities that emit more than 25,000 metric tons of carbon a year.

At the press conference Monday, Tsai Ling-yi (蔡玲儀), director-general of the MoENV's Climate Change Administration, said the agency will unveil in January an expanded carbon reduction inspection plan that will go beyond the biggest emitters.

The new initiative will involve a wider scope of sectors that includes businesses such as department stores and transportation operators that emit more than 10,000 metric tons of carbon a year, Tsai said.

Those companies may also be required to be registered and inspected by the government, though for the moment they will not be required to pay carbon fees in 2026, according to Tsai.