Lawmakers yesterday failed to reach an agreement on setting short and medium-term goals for reducing carbon emissions.
The Executive Yuan has proposed amending Article 4 of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction and Management Act (溫室氣體減量及管理法) to note that the nation’s long-term goal is to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.
While a joint legislative committee meeting yesterday agreed on the 2050 target, lawmakers failed to reach a consensus on the more than 20 proposals tabled on how this could be achieved.
Photo: Lo Chi, Taipei Times
The Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) caucus suggested that carbon emissions be halved, and that gasoline-powered scooters and single-use polyvinyl chloride (PVC) products be banned by 2040.
Without short and medium-term goals, an entire generation would sidestep carbon emissions reduction efforts, leaving the nation to scramble to realize its goals in the last 10 years of the program, TPP Legislator Tsai Pi-ru (蔡壁如) said.
New Power Party (NPP) Chairwoman Chen Jiau-hua (陳椒華) said that the Executive Yuan’s proposal set out a long-term goal, without defining interim goals.
The NPP also recommends that carbon emissions be cut by 50 percent by 2040, she said.
The proposal by Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lin Shu-fen (林淑芬) recommends an annual reduction in carbon emissions, which would give the legislation more clout while making it more flexible, she said.
Not stating outright by how much the nation hopes to cut carbon emissions would place less pressure on the administrative branch, Lin said, adding that the lack of an interim goal or five-year goals would suggest that the government is stalling and leaving the issue for future administrations.
Lin made the remarks in response to Tsai Ling-yi (蔡玲儀), director of the Environmental Protection Administration’s (EPA) Department of Environmental Sanitation and Toxic Substance Management, who told the meeting that Article 10 of the Executive Yuan’s proposal states that the carbon emissions reduction program would be divided into five-year phases to resolve concerns over short and medium-term goals.
DPP Legislator Lai Hui-yuan (賴惠員), a convener of the legislature’s Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee, asked the EPA to include the phrase “to reduce greenhouse gas emissions annually” in its proposal and to discuss Lin’s suggestion and the proposed amendment more with committee members.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Wei-chou (林為洲) opposed the motion, saying that legal amendment discussions should not be based on a proposal made by only one legislator.
Due to the disagreement, Lai said that the Executive Yuan’s proposed amendment would be retained in its current form until further discussion is held.
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