Six automobile manufacturers yesterday signed an agreement with the Environmental Protection Administration to implement a voluntarily reduction of carbon dioxide emissions of between 10 percent and 15 percent by 2015.
Environmental Protection Administration Minister Stephen Shen (沈世宏) said the agreement would require the six manufacturers — BMW, Ford, Honda Taiwan, China Motor Corp, Hyundai and Mercedes-Benz — to use the average amount of CO2 emitted by the small passenger cars they sold last year as the base from which to set the goal of reducing CO2 emissions by between 10 percent and 15 percent by 2015.
Meanwhile, the manufacturers will be required to provide detailed plans on how their products could help reduce CO2 emissions, as well as the measures they intend to utilize to promote the sale of low-emission vehicles.
In addition, they will be asked to submit a specific, stage-by-stage timeline to the environmental agency on how they plan to achieve their goals.
Aside from the six car companies, the agency said it was also in negotiations with Kuorui Motors, Yulong Motors and Hotai Motor Co to sign a similar agreement.
Hu Ming-hui (胡明輝), a section chief at the agency’s Department of Air Quality and Noise Control, said the nation was the first country in Asia to adopt a policy of voluntary emission-reductions.
Similar policies have been implemented in the EU, Australia and Canada.
Hu said the government would mandate reductions in CO2 emissions from 2015 once a draft act on greenhouse gas emissions reduction is passed by the legislature.
The country is the world’s 24th largest emitter of CO2, representing 0.94 percent of the global total.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY STAFF WRITER
The manufacture of the remaining 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks Taiwan purchased from the US has recently been completed, and they are expected to be delivered within the next one to two months, a source said yesterday. The Ministry of National Defense is arranging cargo ships to transport the tanks to Taiwan as soon as possible, said the source, who is familiar with the matter. The estimated arrival time ranges from late this month to early next month, the source said. The 28 Abrams tanks make up the third and final batch of a total of 108 tanks, valued at about NT$40.5 billion
A group from the Taiwanese Designers in Australia association yesterday represented Taiwan at the Midsumma Pride March in Melbourne. The march, held in the St. Kilda suburb, is the city’s largest LGBTQIA+ parade and the flagship event of the annual Midsumma Festival. It attracted more than 45,000 spectators who supported the 400 groups and 10,000 marchers that participated this year, the association said. Taiwanese Designers said they organized a team to march for Taiwan this year, joining politicians, government agencies, professionals and community organizations in showing support for LGBTQIA+ people and diverse communities. As the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex
MOTIVES QUESTIONED The PLA considers Xi’s policies toward Taiwan to be driven by personal considerations rather than military assessment, the Epoch Times reports Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) latest purge of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) leadership might have been prompted by the military’s opposition to plans of invading Taiwan, the Epoch Times said. The Chinese military opposes waging war against Taiwan by a large consensus, putting it at odds with Xi’s vision, the Falun Gong-affiliated daily said in a report on Thursday, citing anonymous sources with insight into the PLA’s inner workings. The opposition is not the opinion of a few generals, but a widely shared view among the PLA cadre, the Epoch Times cited them as saying. “Chinese forces know full well that
Travel agencies in Taiwan are working to secure alternative flights for travelers bound for New Zealand for the Lunar New Year holiday, as Air New Zealand workers are set to strike next week. The airline said that it has confirmed that the planned industrial action by its international wide-body cabin crew would go ahead on Thursday and Friday next week. While the Auckland-based carrier pledged to take reasonable measures to mitigate the impact of the workers’ strike, an Air New Zealand flight arriving at Taipei from Auckland on Thursday and another flight departing from Taipei for Auckland on Saturday would have to
RSS