Sustainability Menu
Sustainability Menu
UMC independently develops an assessment tool by referring to the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations, and through relevant responsible divisions to conduct risk and opportunities analysis base on policies and regulations (including current and emerging regulation), market and technology changes, reputation, legal (including litigation), and physical risks to develop adaptation and mitigation strategies, and review the achievements periodically for the purpose of management by connecting to UMC’s Sustainable Strategy and Blueprint
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TCFD Disclosure Framework and UMC Management |
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Climate Change Risk and Opportunity Assessment Procedure |
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Climate Change Risk and Opportunity Matrix |
UMC conducts assessment according to the procedure above, 8 transition risks, 4 physical risks, and 5 opportunities are identified. List one financial impact and response plan of risk and opportunity as below, respectively:
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Carbon tax/fee for greenhouse gas emission control risk |
(1) Persistent and proactive carbon emissions reduction
(2) 100% renewable energy
(3) Investment in net-zero technologies
UMC continues to implement measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the current cost of purchasing green electricity is projected to exceed NT$200 million in 2024 and over NT$5 billion in 2025 and 2030. The cost of replacing existing equipment with new L/S setups is estimated to exceed NT$100 million in 2024 and over NT$900 million in 2025 and 2030. The benefits include a reduction of approximately NT$9 million in carbon tax in 2024, with an estimated reduction of over NT$1 billion in carbon fees/carbon tax from 2025 to 2030.
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Drought worsens and affects production |
IPCC AR6 SSP1-2.6 and SSP5-8.5; Risk Analysis Results under the Scenario of Long-term Drought: Significant drought risks are observed in the regions of inner Asia and the central and southern parts of Taiwan.
To reduce dependency on municipal water, the Company has diversified its water sources, include reclaimed water as alternative water sources. UMC Group’s reclaimed water consumption is mainly at Fab 12i in Singapore. When Fab 12i was built, reclaimed water (NEWaterNote) was introduced in the production of 300mm wafers. In 2025, Fab 12i’s reclaimed water reached 4.65 million tonnes, accounting for 98.0% of the fab’s total water withdrawal. UMC's fabs in Taiwan are also actively assessing reclaimed water utilization. Fab 12A in Taiwan introduced the use of reclaimed water in December 2022. In 2025, Fab12A's reclaimed water usage reached 1.07 million tonnes. The reclaimed water used in Fab 12A and Fab 12i totaled 1.72 million tonnes, an increase of 24.7% compared to 2024. In addition to reclaimed water, UMC's fabs including Hsinchu and Tainan are also collaborating with the government's desalination system to plan the introduction of desalinated water, aiming to expand the usage of reclaimed and desalinated water, and set the goal of reclaimed and desalinated water usage ration of 18%、20%, and 30% in 2025, 2026, and 2030, respectively.
Note: NEWater is reclaimed water supplied by the Singapore Utilities Board after the wastewater has been treated to a high level of quality.
UMC will continue to invest in water trucks and self-implemented water-saving measures (including U water), as well as the purchase of recycled water and desalinated water. The additional investment cost for 2025 is approximately NT$23.8 million per year, with estimated additional costs not exceeding NT$91 million per year within three years and NT$153 million per year within ten years. This financial calculation only accounts for the increased costs of recycled water* and the contract fees for water trucks.
Note: Fixed costs such as tap water are excluded.
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Increasing Revenue Share of Sustainable Products |
UMC is committed to investing in the development of high-efficiency product technologies, providing semiconductor manufacturing services in clean technology fields such as automotive electronics, smart energy management, industrial automation, and system optimization, to reduce carbon emissions across the value chain, i.e., the end products of customers. To align its technology development with global carbon reduction goals, UMC has set phased targets to increase the revenue share of sustainable products by 2030. The Company continues to develop relevant technologies based on customer and market demands, such as the recently developed 28nm ultra-low power embedded high-voltage platform 28eHV-LP process technology. This technology uses the industry's smallest SRAM cells, reducing energy consumption by 15% without compromising image quality or data rate, thereby meeting the demand for battery power savings. In 2025, UMC produced energy-saving products such as low-power, low-leakage, and power management that accounted for 81.3 % of its revenue, with a financial contribution about NTD 193.1billion1. The total investment in research and development is NTD 17.7 billion.