Sat, Oct 02, 2021 page12

• Ministry urges firms to step up decarbonization

  ‘HIGHLY CHALLENGING’: New EU rules aim to create a greener supply chain, but proposed tariffs could ban Taiwanese products with large carbon footprints

  • By Angelica Oung / Staff reporter
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  Taiwanese companies need to work on decarbonizing or risk being “excluded from the supply chains of the future,” the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.

  Speaking at a forum for decarbonation organized by the Chinese National Federation Industries (CNFI, 全國工業總會), Bureau of Foreign Trade Deputy Director-General Cynthia Kiang (江文若) said that now is the time for Taiwanese companies to start preparing for requirements from countries and companies for greener supply chains and clear accounting of carbon emissions.

  The EU in July announced the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), under which products produced with a large carbon footprint would face tariffs starting in 2026, Kiang said.

  

  The entrance to China Steel Corp in Kaohsiung is pictured in an undated photograph.

  Photo: Lin Jin-hua, Taipei Times

  The law’s primary goal is to prevent products with large carbon footprints from competing with those with low footprints made in the EU.

  “The 2023 date for the beginning of implementation is extremely challenging,” Kiang said.

  Although Taiwanese exports to the EU are limited compared with China, the US and other countries, the trend toward demanding better accounting of carbon emissions and tariffs for higher-carbon products would become increasingly worldwide, Kiang said.

  “More important than the direct export of goods to Europe, [Taiwanese businesses] need to take notice of the carbon requirements of major international companies,” Kiang said. “Otherwise they are at risk of being excluded from the global supply chain.”

  It is not just tech companies such as Google and Amazon that have made commitments to greening their supply chains, footwear brand Nike has as well, leading to Taiwanese shoemaker Pou Chen Corp (寶成工業), the world’s largest manufacturer of branded athletic and casual footwear, to commit to stopping carbon emissions growth starting in 2025, Kiang said.

  “The Bureau of Foreign Trade has been assisting exporters with tracking their carbon footprints whether they are in textile or electronics,” Kiang said. “We wish to accelerate the process of international recognition for our companies as part of the circular economy.”

  At the same forum, China Steel Corp executive vice president Wang Shyi-chin (王錫欽) said that the company would be looking to a foundry that uses hydrogen rather than coal to make steel.

  “To reach our eventual goal of reducing carbon emissions by 20 percent, we can replace some iron ore with recycled iron scrap, replace coal with hydrogen fuel, and capture more of the gas at the top of the foundry to generate electricity,” Wang said. “By refining our procedures, we can create a lower-carbon or even eventually zero carbon steel.

  China Steel hopes to reduce carbon emissions by 7 percent by 2025 and achieve carbon neutrality in the same year, in line with the government’s goal for Taiwan to be Carbon Neutral by 2025.
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