ESG Global Vision

Corporate governance policy, non-financial reporting, financial reporting

In force

Last amended in August 2022

Companies issuing securities under Securities and Exchange Act

The Regulations require public companies to disclose their corporate governance compliance and an overview of their business operations in their annual reports, which must include the following ESG information:

• information on the diversity and independence of directors, including but not limited to names; gender; age, nationality or place of registration, and remuneration paid during the most recent fiscal year to directors (Article 10 (2), (3));
• the state of the company’s performance in ethical corporate management (Article 10 (4)); and
• any disbursements made for environmental protection (including any losses suffered by the company due to environmental pollution incidents) and labour relations (including benefit plans, continuing education, training, retirement systems, and the status of their implementation) (Articles 18 (4), (5)).

Environmental policy

In force

Last amended in August 2019

Electricity users holding contracts for over 5,000 KW of electricity supply

The 2019 amendments established the objectives for the total amount of electricity generated by renewable energy power generation facilities as more than 27,000,000 kilowatts by 2025 (Article 6).

According to Article 12, electricity users with a contract capacity exceeding the threshold (the threshold was set at above 5,000kW in 2022) determined by the Ministry of Economic Affairs (the “MOEA”), shall either install a renewable energy facility or retainer of energy, purchase renewable energy capacity or obtain a certificate of such capacity, or pay prescribed compensation to the MOEA. 

Environmental policy

In force

A 2021 amendment to the law is currently awaiting the legislature's review.

All companies, unincorporated groups or individuals, who have emission sources as defined by the Environmental Protection Administration

The Act aims to establish strategies to reduce and manage greenhouse gas emissions in response to the climate change concerns. It stipulates a mandatory greenhouse gas emissions reduction target of 50% below 2005 levels by 2050. It also introduces an emission trading scheme in response to international greenhouse gas reduction requirements (Article 4 & 18).

Accordingly, any ‘emission source’, as defined by the Environmental Protection Administration, including but not limited to an enterprise that generates greenhouse gases of 25,000 metric tonnes CO2e per year, must annually report its emissions and relevant information to Taiwan’s National Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Registry (Article 16).

Environmental policy, Social policy

In force

Handlers (including corporates, individuals and other entities) of manufacture, import, export, sale, transport, use, storage or discarding of chemical substances

The Act establishes requirements regarding assessment, prevention and management of toxic and chemical substances in order to protect the environment and human health. Companies and individuals caught by the regulation must:

• prepare plans for risk prevention and take necessary protective measures for Class 1 -3 toxic chemical substances and hazardous chemical substances as detailed by the Environmental Protection Administration (Article 35 & 36);
• actively act to prevent related accidents, and assign professional emergency responders to take necessary protective, emergency response, and clean-up operations for the accident (Article 37); and
• apply for a chemical substance registration before the specified deadline. Enterprises that manufacture or import new chemical substances must apply for a prior approval on new chemical substance registration 90 days before any manufacture or import (Article 30).

Environmental policy

In force

Last amended in 2016

Energy suppliers and users, as designated by the central competent authority

The Act serves to upgrade energy administration, and is aimed at the rational and efficient utilisation of energy, and puts in place measures to force energy users and suppliers to conserve energy, which require:

• energy supply enterprises to comply with the regulations governing the energy adjustments, restrictions, and prohibitions stipulated by the Ministry of Economic Affairs (the “MOEA”) (Article 6); and
• energy users designated by MOEA, such as shopping centres, supermarkets, hotels etc., to comply with the energy conservation guidelines issued by the MOEA when using energy consuming facilities (Article 8).

Environmental policy, non-financial reporting

In force

Last amended in August 2018

Public and private premises

The Act is the primary law governing air pollution control. It provides several measures imposed on public and private premises (including but not limited to offices, factories, and businesses) to control air pollution, including:

• public and private premises with stationary pollution sources that emit air pollutants must comply with applicable emissions standards (Article 20);
• public and private premises designated by the Environmental Protection Administration must establish dedicated air pollution control units (Article 34); and
• public and private premises possessing stationary pollution sources designated by the Environmental Protection Administration must report the quarterly air pollutant emissions to the local competent agency by the end of January, April, July and October each year (Article 21).

Non-financial disclosure

In force

Taiwanese companies in the food sector, financial insurance, chemical industries, and companies with paid-in capital of over 5 billion

Taiwanese companies subject to the mandatory rules are required to publish an annual sustainability report which covers factors including ESG risks assessment and climate-related disclosure covering climate impact, risk management and performance indicators.