The main problem explored in this study is how Taiwan and other countries meet the challenges of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals regarding energy transition by using legal instruments or policy bundles. This study adopts textual analysis and legal policy analysis as its main form of research methodology, and the theory of energy justice, as well as principles of energy management, to correlate with the Sustainable Development Goals. Furthermore, this study aims to construct an analysis structure for national energy transition and to analyze the current situation within Taiwan’s electricity sector reforms, while providing evidence of the national experience of electrical industry reforms as an international reference. This study also compares the differences between the seventh Sustainable Development Goal relationship and national energy transitions in Taiwan and Japan, based on the similar initiative of the revised Electricity Act with the policy bundle. This study specifically finds that, firstly, the theory for energy justice is connected with the principles for energy management, owing to the same concepts of “Fair Competition”, via the recognition of “Energy Development and Poverty”, which correlates with “Environment Protection”. Therefore, the concept of energy transition proposed in this study integrates national energy development policy goals and combines them with environmental sustainability, the green economy, and social equity. Secondly, the national energy transition in Taiwan is a response to the Sustainable Development Goals, and electricity sector-related laws could be used as legal tools for national energy transition. This study concludes that Taiwanese and Japanese governments can strengthen their environmental regulations to promote fair competition directly, with fair competition then being able to enhance stable electricity supply, to enable these countries to move towards the seventh Sustainable Development Goal and its indicators. Finally, the analysis structure used in this study could be used as a policy analysis tool for other countries during their own energy transition, when a nation is willing to strategically reform its electricity sector and make sustainable choices regarding transition paths and policy bundles that are suitable for the situation of the individual country. Then, a nation can make revisions to its laws and formulate a policy that is in line with local conditions, while as simultaneously implementing the Sustainable Development Goals.

The electronics industry plays an essential role in the future of a Taiwan economy based on science, technology, and innovation. At the same time, it is also the most energy-intensive industry. Taiwan is currently driven by high-carbon power generation, and adopts a passive carbon reduction pathway, but unless Taiwan urgently undergoes energy transition, the development of Taiwan’s electronics industry will be impeded. Our analysis found that the petrochemical and electronics industries are the main sources of carbon emissions (27.1%) and electricity consumption (31.6%) in Taiwan, and the existence of the petrochemical industry has constrained the growth of the electronics industry, which has therefore resulted in conundrums to Taiwan’s sustainability strategy. To accommodate the growth of the electronics industry, Taiwan needs to undertake three major transitions: energy transition, industrial transition, and restrain the growth of energy (energy conservation). Under the policy of the nuclear-free homeland, the reduction of coal-fired and thermal power generation, while at the same time increasing the share of renewable energy in power generation, are urgent and important government projects in Taiwan; however, the implementation has been sluggish.

As it has an export-oriented economy, Taiwan urgently needs to keep up with the growing trends toward carbon taxation. However, making the institution of a carbon tax a reality in Taiwan has proven to be difficult. Since 1998, Taiwan has explored the possibility of putting a tax on carbon many times. Specifically, three main windows of opportunity emerged to adopt a carbon tax during this period; however, all of them failed. This study mainly explores why these three opportunities failed, what structural factors hindered them, and how those structural factors formed path dependence and locked the entire society back onto the existing development track. Firstly, Taiwan’s high-carbon industrial structure has established the rapid growth of energy-intensive industries since the end of the 1990s and has created an economy with high energy consumption and pollution levels. Secondly, this analysis showed that through the combination of government bureaucracy, industry, and the China National Federation of Industries, this brown economy and high-carbon emission structure generated institutional, cognitive, and techno-institutional complex lock-ins, which have led Taiwan to its current path and hindered its transformation. Thirdly, under the above framework, this study further analyzes the contexts and problems that caused the three windows of opportunity to fail. Finally, by linking the economy-first orientation of developmental states, this study identifies structural difficulties and possible breakthrough conditions for newly industrialized/industrializing countries that are undergoing low-carbon transitions.

Just Transitions are gaining attention in environmental research, and most studies have focused on climate change; however, the insights from this work may be usefully applied to the rarely discussed area in just transition studies. This article uses traditional dimensions of environmental and social justice, such as distributive, procedural, recognition, and restorative justice, to understand why heavy-duty diesel truck drivers fought back against stricter air pollution regulations while demanding destigmatization. The protest resulted in policy failure, and Taiwan’s transition to cleaner, newer diesel trucks were halted. This study finds that the key social contextual factor in Taiwan’s transportation industry was the labor relations of license-leasing. The drivers’ protest began with a lack of procedural justice, and communication occurred only after the law was passed. There was insufficient regard for procedural justice, and although the drivers were concerned, the new rule would significantly impact their right to work and life. Furthermore, the drivers felt disrespected and even carried the stigma of creating environmental pollution. The article assumes that the results should be different if the governance mechanism can handle the key factor in a social context and make appropriate arrangements for the four dimensions of Just Transition. This argument may be relevant for other countries looking to transition from older diesel vehicles to cleaner vehicles through Just Transition.