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The Ministry of Environment released its latest statistics, showing that national carbon emissions in 2023 were approximately 278 million metric tons. Environmental groups further calculated data from the industrial sector, compiling a list of the top ten carbon-emitting enterprises: Formosa Petrochemical, China Steel Corporation (CSC), Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), Dragon Steel Corporation, Formosa Plastics Corporation, Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corporation, CPC Corporation, Nan Ya Plastics Corporation, Taiwan Cement, and Asia Cement. Their emissions account for nearly four-tenths of the national total, and many are major coal consumers. For example, the Formosa Plastics Group's total annual coal consumption is not far from that of the Taichung Power Plant. Environmental groups are calling on the government to strengthen the transformation pathways for the petrochemical and semiconductor industries and are demanding that corporations enhance information disclosure.

2023 Annual Emissions Total 278 Million Metric Tons, with Energy Emissions Being the Largest Share

The Ministry of Environment yesterday (the 26th) released the latest "National Greenhouse Gas Inventory Report (2025 Edition)," which states that our country's greenhouse gas emissions in 2023 were 278.63 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂e). This is a 4.48% decrease compared to the base year (2005) and a 2.83% decrease compared to the previous year (2022). Based on this, the Ministry of Environment stated that our country's overall greenhouse gas emissions are showing a downward trend.

Looking closely at the emission sectors, the energy sector emitted the most at 252.73 million metric tons, accounting for 90.71% of the national total emissions. The industrial processes and product use sector accounted for approximately 7.18%, the agriculture sector for 1.20%, and the waste sector for 0.91%.

The Green Citizen Action Alliance and the Taiwan Climate Action Network (TCAN) Research Center held a press conference today to review the climate performance of major domestic carbon emitters. Ko Chien-Yung, a researcher at the Green Citizen Action Alliance, analyzed that the Ministry of Environment's inventory only counts the direct process emissions from the industrial sector, while the emissions from electricity and fuel combustion used by the industrial sector are categorized under the energy sector. This makes it difficult to see the actual situation of industrial carbon emissions.

Top 10 Emitters Account for Nearly 40% of National Emissions and are Also Major Coal Consumers

The Green Alliance and the Taiwan Climate Action Network calculated from the Energy Administration, Ministry of Economic Affairs' "2023 Annual Fuel Combustion Carbon Dioxide Emission Statistics and Analysis" data to further derive the complete carbon emissions of the industrial sector. They calculated that in that year (2023), Taiwan's industrial sector greenhouse gas emissions accounted for approximately 48.44% of the national total emissions. Among them, the top ten carbon-emitting enterprises were Formosa Petrochemical, China Steel Corporation, TSMC, Dragon Steel Corporation, Formosa Plastics Corporation, Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corporation, CPC Corporation, Nan Ya Plastics Corporation, Taiwan Cement, and Asia Cement. Their emissions accounted for 37.16% of the national total.

Tseng Hung-Wen, Deputy Secretary-General of the Green Alliance, pointed out that Taiwan's major carbon emitters are also major emitters of air pollution. Excluding TSMC, CPC Corporation, China Steel, and Dragon Steel, which do not use coal, the remaining enterprises are precisely the operators with the highest coal consumption in Taiwan. For example, the Formosa Plastics Group's total annual coal consumption reaches 10.13 million metric tons, which is not far from the Taichung Power Plant's annual coal consumption of 12 million metric tons. Tseng Hung-Wen emphasized that when focusing on coal pollution, the responsibility that these major carbon emitters should bear must not be ignored.

Environmental groups stated that the government should promptly set a timeline for the manufacturing sector to phase out coal, promote coal reduction and the use of alternative energy in industries, and implement air pollution governance. They also called on these publicly listed companies to assume social responsibility and establish transformation pathways.

Environmental Groups Name Petrochemical and Semiconductor Industries for Insufficiently Ambitious Carbon Reduction and Energy Goals

Lin Yi-Chun, a researcher at the Taiwan Climate Action Network, said that the petrochemical and electronics industries (including semiconductors) are the main sources of carbon emissions in the domestic manufacturing sector. If their climate actions are not sufficiently ambitious, it will affect our country's carbon reduction and net-zero goals. Lin Yi-Chun pointed out that upon reviewing the major carbon emitters in the petrochemical and semiconductor industries regulated by the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) and the Ministry of Environment, about half of the petrochemical operators and about seventy percent of the semiconductor operators have set 2030 mid-term reduction targets lower than the 24% announced by the nation.

In terms of energy conservation and green energy, over sixty percent of petrochemical operators have not yet used renewable energy, nor have they set mid- to long-term plans for renewable energy. Although semiconductor enterprises are more proactive in deploying green electricity, half of the semiconductor operators still have a renewable energy usage rate of less than 1%, indicating that the climate actions of the petrochemical and semiconductor industries are lagging.

Lin Yi-Chun suggested that the Ministry of Economic Affairs should propose a net-zero transformation strategy for the entire value chain of the petrochemical industry and should also engage in climate cooperation with the international community for the semiconductor industry to jointly establish environmental regulations and energy goals suitable for semiconductors.

Ko Chien-Yung pointed out that among Taiwan's 1,829 publicly listed companies, only 10% of enterprises have self-reported and committed to net-zero on the FSC's ESG InfoHub, and about 8.8% of companies have set mid-term reduction targets. A high of 83.54% of companies have either not filled out the information at all or have no concrete carbon reduction commitments. Chao Chia-Wei, Director of the Taiwan Climate Action Network, believes that with the 2050 net-zero target clearly legislated, the fact that only one-tenth of publicly listed companies have set a net-zero goal represents a significant gap.

Environmental groups called on the FSC to accelerate the promotion of corporate implementation of sustainability information disclosure. Not only should companies be mandatorily required to disclose in their annual reports, but data management mechanisms such as the ESG InfoHub should also be improved, so that all sectors of society can jointly supervise the climate action performance of enterprises.

Source: https://e-info.org.tw/node/241367#google_vignette
Written by:  Economic Daily News Journalist 李蘇竣
Date: 2025.5.27