A comparison of the legislative framework and policies in Taiwan's Four GHG reduction acts

In order to respond to calls for newly industrialized countries to take greater responsibility for reducing GHG emission levels in the 2012 post-Kyoto treaty era, the Taiwan government has in recent years actively promoted related strategic policies and laws. In June 2009 the government passed the 'Renewable Energy Development Act' along with amendments to the 'Energy Administration Act', while at the same time developing drafts of the 'GHG Reduction Act' and 'Energy Tax Act'. This set of related policies and legislation, create a basic foundation for Taiwan's international GHG reduction responsibilities, institutional capacity and systems potential. This process of promoting GHG reduction touches on a wide range of issues including objective energy structure, GHG emission structure, the set of policies and laws, as well as the horizontal, vertical and socio-cultural pressures of the legislative process. Therefore, the main purpose of this paper is, through a comparison of the strategies adopted in each of the four GHG reduction acts, to trace the legislative background behind related acts and analyze the main aims, control models adopted and interaction going on between these four GHG reduction acts. Moreover with these four acts touching on the need for changes to be made to the energy structure, industrial structure and energy efficiency, as well as consumer behavior and other issues, the author also discusses the domestic and international economic factors and socio-cultural pressures affecting the legislative process. Finally, a comparison of energy consumption, GHG emission and industrial output, will reveal the direction which current efforts to implement changes to Taiwan's industrial policy, CO2 reduction policy and legislation are moving. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.