The government will work toward being included in a global emissions trading system, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said yesterday in reference to next month’s UN Climate Change Conference (UNCCC).
Deputy Environmental Protection Administration Minister Chang Tzi-chin (張子敬) said that even though Taiwan was not a member of the conference, the government was willing to uphold its responsibilities as a member of the global community.
Deputy Environmental Protection Administration Minister Chiou Wen-yan (邱文彥) is expected to attend the Copenhagen conference as a member of a non-governmental organization (NGO) because the UN does not recognize Taiwan’s government.
The agency has proposed implementing a domestic cap and trade system to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions and eventually work toward connecting it with regional and global systems, Chang said. The agency also aims to specify the carbon-dioxide limits allowed for different industries and the quantities of manufactured goods, he said.
Chang acknowledged, however, that the government would continue to have difficulties participating globally as its lack of recognition has hampered the EPA sharing expertise with international organizations.
“Although we will continue to push our industries to lower their emissions … we don’t have access to foreign [carbon-emissions] markets,” he said.
The international cap and trade system was proposed by the UNCCC in 1997 to give countries a set limit for carbon emissions. If a country exceeds the limit, it can buy credits from other countries that have extra credits. It is hoped that this system could provide the international community with an incentive to lower carbon-dioxide emissions.
The EPA wants to implement this system on a smaller scale, among local companies. It submitted a greenhouse gas reduction act (溫室氣體減量法) proposal to the legislature in 2006, but the bill has yet to be passed.
Hsiao Hui-chuan (蕭慧娟), a senior EPA official in charge of emission reductions, said the legislative delays may be the result of concerns about the bill’s impact on industry, prompting lawmakers to review the proposal clause by clause.
It is unlikely the law will be passed during the current legislative session because lawmakers are expected to revise the draft after the Copenhagen conference, she said.
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