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Taiwan passes net zero act
Taiwan’s lawmakers have passed a climate bill that seeks to establish a carbon fee system for large emitters and sets a goal of reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.
The Climate Change Response Act was initially approved by the cabinet in April of last year. The final approved version of the act establishes a goal of reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
The effort will be led by the National Council for Sustainable Development, which will coordinate with central government agencies and other stakeholders to draft climate "action plans."
Under the act, those plans will be reviewed a minimum of every four years and be implemented by local governments.
The act states that the net-zero goal will be introduced in phases with a mechanism to collect carbon fees on "direct", and later "indirect" emissions from entities whose emissions reach a certain threshold. The system will likely take effect from the beginning of 2024.
In related news, the government says geothermal energy will play an important role in its net-zero emissions by 2050 goal.
Deputy Economics Minister Tseng Weng-shen says the government is set to accelerate its development of the renewable energy source this year.
He spoke from the Taiwan International Geothermal Conference 2023, held in Taipei and attended by corporations and experts from a dozen countries around the world.
Tseng says Taiwan has rich geothermal energy sources, and state corporations such as CPC and Taipower are seeking domestic and international corporate partners to expand use of the energy within a short time frame, with support from the central government.
The Central Geological Survey, under the economics ministry, says estimates in 2013 concluded that Taiwan has the potential to generate nearly 40 gigawatts of geothermal energy and the government aims to be producing up to 6.2 gigawatts by the year 2050.
