Abstract
The recent development of international negotiation regarding climate change has turned to be an important stepping stone to the next legally binding international agreement ever since the post-Kyoto era. In order to achieve the ultimate objective of keeping the rising of global temperature below 2 degree Celsius to avoid catastrophic climate impact, new mechanisms and tools such as INDCs, FVA, NMM, and NMA are being developed to avail the world toward an efficient path to the combat of climate change. Anthropogenic activities, especially the emission of GHG, are acknowledged as a major factor to climate change. However, the question of how to appropriately address climate issues with legislation and policy is still in debate with most of the countries around the globe designing their own strategy. It is the intention of this research to introduce and provide examples from experienced countries with their legislation and policy making to examine the appropriateness and thoroughness of Taiwan newly adopted Greenhouse Gases Reduction and Management Act, as well as to analyze possible links between Taiwan and the international community. For such purpose, it is critical to understand the design of carbon pricing as it is now being acknowledge as the most efficient approach to address GHG emission by adopting polluter pays principle. Generally, carbon pricing is categorized into “carbon tax” and “cap-and-trade”, with British Columbia of Canada and European Union as leading examples, which provides valuable experience for the future practice to Taiwan. Furthermore, it is crucial to acknowledge the threat of carbon leakage once the carbon pricing mechanism is established by legislation in order to prevent jeopardizing the climate objective and domestic economy. Overall, it is the intention of this research to analyze the development on both international negotiation regarding climate change and the practice of experienced nations as a reference and recommendation to the newly born legal and policy design in Taiwan.