The regulatory infrastructure for company work on carbon emissions is still immature in Asia. Aspirational national targets for reporting with limited market impact were the norm. In part, this reflects the complex regional politics of the post-Kyoto regime. It also reflects the challenges that Asia’s highly competitive economies face when implementing complex policies which can affect competitiveness in globally-priced commodity product markets.

Each country in the CDP5 Asia ex-Japan Report is a non-Annex 1 country under the Kyoto Protocol and as such does not have mandatory carbon emissions reduction targets. As signatories, however, they can establish a Designated National Authority (DNA) and participate in the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). This is typically the case when there are no specific country initiatives regarding GHG emissions reporting. Only Taiwan is not a signatory of the Kyoto Protocol, complicating the involvement of Taiwanese companies in the CDM.

The following review of country-specific carbon-related legislation is based on the best publicly available information.

China
http://en.ndrc.gov.cn/newsrelease/P020070604561191006823.pdf
China revealed its first national plan on climate change, the National Climate Change Program (NCCP), in June 2007. The plan promises to adopt administrative, economic, and legislative measures to increase power efficiency, promote renewable energy, and enlist local authorities' support to cut GHG emissions. The need to develop a statistical system to inventory GHG emissions, collect and test monitoring day, review methodologies and further develop a national greenhouse gas emission database is addressed in the ‘capacity building’ section of this new program.

Hong Kong
http://www.epd.gov.hk/epd/english/environmentinhk/air/data/emission_inve.html
At present, Hong Kong does not have any government initiatives to establish mandatory carbon emissions reduction targets for the private sector. Efforts in the area of climate change have primarily been the by-product of initiatives to reduce air pollution and increase energy efficiency. Companies within Hong Kong that have reported emissions have tended to do so in line with industry standards or the GHG Protocol. The Hong Kong government, Environmental Protection Department (EPD) has published guidelines to account for and report on greenhouse gas emissions and removals for buildings in Hong Kong:
http://www.epd.gov.hk/epd/english/climate_change/ca_guidelines.html

India
http://cdmindia.nic.in/cdm_india.htm
India's Energy Conservation Act of 2001 set up legal, institutional, and regulatory mechanisms to drive energy efficiency, but participation is voluntary and not mandatory. As a Kyoto Protocol signatory, India's climate-related initiatives are primarily focused on the administration of CDM projects. India's carbon trading market has become very active. Lists of players and projects can be found at CARBONyatra.com, a Carbon Trading, CDM, News, Information and Analysis portal, which also provides an India relevant carbon footprint calculator.

Indonesia
http://dna-cdm.menlh.go.id/
Indonesia has no discrete regulations related to GHG emissions. Factory transparency has been addressed at the periphery of a voluntary disclosure program for pollution control through the Program for Pollution Control, Evaluation, and Rating (PROPER) administered by The Environmental Impact and Management Agency (BAPEDAL). In 2005, Indonesia’s participation in the CDM was promulgated under Minister of Environment Decree.

Korea
http://www.gihoo.or.kr/portal/index.jsp
Policies covering climate change in Korea have focused on government-industry collaboration, often involving industry associations, to set standards and reduction targets. Most recently, in September 2006, the Korean Government established the National Energy Committee which will oversee the implementation of a national emissions trading system that will officially start by the end of 2007. The government will also set national targets for carbon emissions reduction sometime in 2008 based on carbon emissions data gathered from the national GHG registry. This will be followed by allocation of carbon reduction targets for each industry.

Malaysia
http://cdm.eib.org.my
Malaysia participates in the CDM through their National Carbon Committee and the DNA run by their National CDM Committee housed in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

Philippines
http://www.klima.ph/announcement_board/philgarp/philgarp.htm
The Philippine GHG Accounting and Reporting Program (PhilGARP) is a voluntary GHG accounting and reporting program created as a partnership between the Philippine Business for the Environment, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the Department of Energy, WRI and WBCSD. PhilGARP is designed to train participating businesses and organizations operating in the Philippines on GHG management based on the GHG Protocol standards and tools, to assist participation in the creation of corporate GHG inventories, and to provide a platform for public reporting and information dissemination on GHG management issues.

Singapore
http://app.nea.gov.sg/
Government agencies currently prefer the use of voluntary schemes rather than legislation to encourage industry to adopt environmentally friendly activities. Such schemes include internal energy audits for oil refineries and petrochemical plants, improvement of energy efficiency, and awards for environmentally friendly buildings.

Taiwan
http://www.cedi.cepd.gov.tw
Taiwan's GHG Reduction Act, currently under review by the Legislative Yuan, proposes to set a national GHG reduction target. Once approved, it mandates responsible government agencies to set up a GHG emissions quota, develop standards and penalties for each sector, and establish mechanisms for an emissions inventory, registration, and verification. The draft Act also allows trading in CO2 emissions quotas, and permits the extra emissions reductions achieved by companies to be credited to their accounts for trading or use with new investment projects. Taiwan is not a signatory of the Kyoto Protocol.

Thailand
http://www.ttc.most.go.th
The current version of Thailand's Climate Change Strategy (August 2005) integrates CDM schemes into its strategy.