Rick Lu (呂威逸) July 30, 2021
The world is speeding up towards net zero, which is becoming a critical issue for Taiwan’s international business development. Thus many Taiwan’s corporations are joining international clean energy initiatives to catch up. “Race to Zero” has become an evident global trend. According to UNFCCC, over 120 economies commit to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050, and Taiwan is not one of them. However, due to pressure from global competitiveness and the public, Taiwan’s corporations are desperately strengthening its climate acts on their own.
As a nation highly dependent on international business, Taiwanese companies, especially for carbon-intensive industries, are at a critical point in time to make the right choice soon.
Risks Taiwan is facing: International Business Competition
The Risk Society and Policy Research Center from National Taiwan University named the potential risks Taiwan would face in the future, including carbon pricing trends, supply chain partners and rivals and investors. The center stressed that Taiwan’s government and corporations should implement more proactive sustainable acts to reduce emission in order to remain competitive.
Most of Taiwan’s important trading partners are implementing or considering carbon pricing mechanism, potentially raising Taiwan’s export cost. The EU is in the process of establishing a carbon border adjustment mechanism; the US and Japan are also planning to implement ETS. Three of them account for 30% of Taiwan’s export market, and Taiwan’s exports would be facing additional carbon tax.
Aside from government policies, Taiwan also faces pressure from supply chain partners. International brands including Apple, Unilever, Ostred, have announced that they are aiming to make all-green supply chains, to be 100% carbon neutral and to use 100% renewable energy. As a part of the international business supply chain, Taiwan’s electronics, plastic, steel and metal production industries face urgent need of transition to get orders.
Lastly, should companies oversee the urgency of low-carbon transition, investors would fund other competitors instead. Taiwan needs to keep an eye on international peers and introduce innovative low-carbon technology and solutions to stay competitive. Take the steel industry for example, China Steel (Taiwan) is one the world’s largest steelmaker, and its rivals including ArcelorMittal (Luxembourg), Nippon Steel Corporation (Japan), and POSCO (South Korea) all have announced Net Zero by 2050 and would focus on developing net zero technologies. Investment funds are also starting to score companies’ climate performance, and the investors are focusing more on ESG performance, leading to increasing value of green assets.
Taiwanese Corporations joining Clean Energy Initiatives: EP100, RE100, EV100
In response to the global consensus of climate actions, Taiwan’s corporations are joining clean energy initiatives, adopting low-carbon solutions and carbon reduction standards.
According to Taiwan’s Environmental Protection Administration, Taiwan’s top 10 largest carbon emitters account for 40% of the yearly total emission. With global corporations racing to Net Zero, these companies are catching up with the pace.
Taiwan’s top 10 largest emitters:
- Formosa Petrochemical Corporation (FPCC): 27.5 MtCO2e (10.6%)
- China Steel Corporation (CSC): 21.6 MtCO2e (8.3%)
- Dragon Steel Corporation: 9.0 MtCO2e (3.5%)
- Formosa Chemical & Fiber Corporation (FCFC): 8.3 MtCO2e (3.2%)
- Formosa Plastic Group: 7.9 MtCO2e (3.1%)
- CPC Corporation (CPC): 7.7 MtCO2e (3.0%)
- TSMC: 7.7 MtCO2e (3.0%)
- Nan Ya Plastics Corporation: (NPC) 5.6 MtCO2e (2.1%)
- Taiwan Cement Corporation (TCC): 4.5 MtCO2e (1.7%)
- Chang Chun Group (CCGP): 3.3 MtCO2e (1.3%)
With the large emitters and leading corporations taking actions, green innovation processes within industries are accelerated. TSMC joined RE100 in 2020, while Taiwan Cement Corporation (TCC) joined the 2050 Climate Ambition from Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA) and committed to Net Zero by 2050. The former also called for advanced renewable energy and the latter introduced carbon capture and storage technology to Taiwan.
Also, Apple’s announcement to make an all-green supply chain forced even more Taiwan’s corporations to follow through. Apple launched the Supplier Clean Energy Program in 2015, asking its manufacturers to promise that all electricity manufacturing Apple products must come from clean energy. As of September 2020, Taiwan’s companies including TSMC, Foxconn (Hon Hai), Catcher Tech, Compal Electronics, Pegatron, Quanta, Wistron, PRIMAX, and LEALEA have participated in the project.
In addition, Apple has committed to be 100% carbon neutral for its supply chain and products by 2030, making major suppliers such as TSMC and Foxconn (Hon Hai) announce their goal of 100% renewable energy use in global locations and net zero by 2050.
As a critical supplier in international business, Taiwan’s companies are leading the industry in purchasing renewable energy and taking practical actions to actively implement emission reduction solutions. Here are the corporations which have joined the international clean energy initiatives.
Corporations joined RE100: (2021.07)
RE100 is the global corporate renewable energy initiative launched by The Climate Group, bringing over 300 large and ambitious businesses committed to 100% renewable electricity.
| Corporation | Achieve by When | Notes |
| TCI Bio (bio-tech) | 2030 | The first Taiwanese corporation to join RE100, commit to 30% renewable electricity use by 2020. |
| 3dL LAB. INC (cosmetic) | 2048 | |
| O’right (cosmetic) | 2025 | The first Taiwanese corporation to introduce internal carbon pricing system. |
| Grape King Bio. (bio-tech) | 2035 | |
| TSMC (IC) | 2050 | The world’s first semiconductor company to join RE100. TSMC has signed the world’s largest power purchase agreement, a 20-year contract with Ørsted to purchase 920MW of wind power, and has committed to source 100% renewable electricity across non-manufacturing plants and 25% across manufacturing plants by 2030, then 100% across its entire global operations by 2050, also with zero emission from electric power. |
| Kingwhale Corporation (textile) | 2040 | The first textile manufacturer across Asia-Pacific to join RE100. |
| Delta Electronics (electronics) | 2030 | Commit to source 100% renewable energy and achieve carbon neutral across its global operations. |
| Jolab (cosmetic) | 2030 | |
| Acer (electronics) | 2035 | Launch international platform “Earthion”, encouraging supply chain partners to adopt green innovation within product design, production, logistics, packaging process. Major suppliers such as AUO, Innolux, Compal Electronics, and Quanta have joined. |
| United Microelectronics Corporation, UMC (IC) | 2050 | The world’s first wafer manufacturer to announce net zero. Its entire supply chain is expected to reduce 20% emission and source 20% renewable energy by 2030. |
Note 1: Asus (electronics) has also announced the goal of RE100, with 100% renewable energy use by 2035; to achieve that, Asus expects to achieve RE100 across operations in Taiwan and source 60% renewable energy overseas by 2030.
Note 2: Chung Hwa Pulp Corporation, CHP (pulp) also plans to join RE100 later this year, committing to source 67% renewable energy by 2030 and 109% by 2050, surpassing the goal of RE100.
Note 3: (Updated on Aug. 19th) King Yuan Fu Packaging Co., KYF (plastic) anounced to join RE100 yesterday, with 60% renewable energy use by 2030, 90% by 2040, and 100% by 2050.
Aside from local corporations, there are at least 85 RE100 members having operations in Taiwan. According to the “RE100 Taiwan Report”, released in 2020, roughly 38% of RE100 members will depend on Taiwan to achieve 100% renewable electricity for their global operations. However, it is also warned that Taiwanese market is one of the most challenging due to the limited sourcing options and high cost of renewable electricity.
Corporations joined EP100: (2021.04)
EP100 is the initiative led by The Climate Group and The Alliance to Save Energy, bringing more and more energy-smart companies to improve their energy productivity to lower their emissions and improve their competitiveness, and to finally lower global energy demand and accelerate the clean energy transition.
| Corporation | Achieve by When | Notes |
| TCI Bio | 2026, 2040 | Deploy an energy management system (EnMS) across all facilities in 10 years and improve energy productivity 35% by 2040, both from a 2016 baseline year. |
| 3dL LAB. INC | 2048 | Deploy an energy management system (EnMS) and increase energy productivity to 30% by 2048. |
Corporations joined EV100: (2021.04)
EV100 is the initiative led by The Climate Group with 111 members committing to switch their fleets to EVs and/or install charging for staff and/or customers by 2030.
| Corporation | Achieve by When | Notes |
| Delta Electronics (IT) | 2030 | Transition its 145 vehicle fleet to EVs by 2030 and install charging for staff at workplaces. |
Energy saving and carbon reduction not only are indicators of ESG performance anymore but they also play a vital role in corporations’ competitiveness and profit. To survive in the new sustainability market, Taiwan’s corporations are adopting new norms and starting the green transition, and eventually become both profitable and environmentally sustainable.
Sources: Risk Society and Policy Research Center (1), Risk Society and Policy Research Center (2), Risk Society and Policy Research Center (3), e-info.org (1), e-info.org (2), CSR@天下, Re100, CNA
(Photo Credit: Photo by Lisanto 李奕良 on Unsplash)
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