The Taichung Power Plant, the largest coal-fired power plant in Taiwan. CNA file photo

Taipei, June 26 (CNA) Taiwan’s Ministry of Environment released the country’s latest National Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Inventory Report on Tuesday, indicating net emissions of 264.13 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2e) in 2022, representing a decrease of 1.77 percent from the baseline year of 2005.

The ministry noted that the figures for 2022 emissions represented a decrease of 4.07 percent from 2021, when the country also saw economic growth of 2.6 percent in the same period.

Net emissions of 264.13 million MtCO2e are calculated by taking total emissions of 285.97 million MtCO2e and deducting the carbon sink of 21.83 million MtCO2e, according to the ministry.

The earliest records for GHG emissions date back to 1990 and peaked in 2007 (total emissions 301.813 million MtCO2e; net emissions 279.739 million MtCO2e). During the COVID-19 pandemic from 2019-2020 net emissions temporarily dropped to around 264 million MtCO2e before an uptick in 2021 (275.35 million MtCO2e) due to the revival of economic activity.

The ministry said that compared to global trends, which saw global energy-related CO2 emissions grow by 1.3 percent from 2021 to 2022 in the wake of the economic rebound after the pandemic, according to the International Energy Agency, Taiwan’s emissions saw a decrease.

Taiwan’s energy-related CO2 equivalent emissions in 2022 fell by 3.4 percent (257.958 million MtCO2e) compared to 2021 (267.037 million MtCO2e), according to the inventory report.

The report records GHG emissions from five sectors: energy; industrial process and product use (IPPU); agriculture; land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF); and waste.

The energy sector has always been the main source of GHG emissions. In 2022, the sector had total emissions of 257.958 million MtCO2e, or 94.25 percent of total GHG emissions, while the IPPU sector had 14.770 million MtCO2e, agriculture sector 22,000 MtCO2e, LULUCF sector -21.834 million MtCO2e, and waste sector 933,000 MtCO2e.

While net GHG emissions in 2022 saw a decrease of 1.77 percent from the baseline year of 2005, the energy sector saw a 4 percent increase from the 247.956 million MtCO2e in 2005.

The ministry said the release of the inventory report is in compliance with the Taiwan’s Climate Change Response Act, which requires the central competent authority to “compile national emissions statistics and establish a national GHG emissions inventory” every year.

The report states that while Taiwan is not party to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), it has “long been committed to fulfilling its responsibility as a member of the global community by endeavoring to take initiatives to help slow global warming.”

According to the report, the guidelines in Article 4 of the UNFCCC, Article 13 of the Paris Agreement, and Article 5 of the Kyoto Protocol state that each party shall submit information on its progress in response to climate change to the UNFCCC Conference of the Parties for review.