Taiwan passes GHG reduction law and considers emissions trading

On 15 June 2015, the Taiwanese parliament (Legislative Yuan) passed the “Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction and Management Act” (Chinese), which sets a 50% emissions reduction target for 2050 compared to 2005 levels. The law charges the Taiwanese Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with the development of appropriate climate change policies to reach this target. An emissions trading system (ETS) is mentioned as a key option in the law. There is however no concrete timeline for implementation, and it remains unclear how developments in the international climate negotiations might affect these plans, including the role of market-based instruments like an ETS.