Moving Toward Net-Zero Emission Society: With Special Reference to the Recent Law and Policy Development in Some Selected Countries

Abstract

By the Sixth IPPC Report issued in August 2021, man-made greenhouse gases emission is responsible for approximately 1.1 °C of warming between 1850 and 1900, and the global temperature is expected to reach or exceed 1.5 °C by 2041. The IPPC thus urges world leaders to adopt substantial and sustained reductions to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gas emissions to stabilize global temperature by the next 20–30 years. In East Asia, the Former Prime Minister of Japan, Yoshihide Suga, declared that Japan will become carbon–neutral by 2050. The commitment has been further endorsed by his successor Prime Minister Kishida Fumio. Korea enacted the Carbon Neutrality Act, which requires the government to cut greenhouse gas emissions in 2030 by 35% or more from the 2018 levels in August 2021. In China, President Xi Jinping committed to achieving carbon neutrality by 2060 at the U.N. General Assembly in September 2020. In Taiwan, President Tsai Ing-wen announced on April 22, 2021, that Taiwan will achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. The road to achieving net-zero emissions is an ambitious but challenging goal for each significant GHGs emitter in the Asia–Pacific region. Each country has its own economic, social, and technological foundation and capabilities and thus requires different approaches to achieve the same goal. This chapter explores the recent global trends with particular references to EU, U.S., and Japan’s law and policy development aiming to achieve carbon neutrality goals by 2050.