About 57 percent of Taiwanese companies still have not set out plans for carbon reduction, Standard Chartered Bank (Taiwan) Ltd (渣打國際商業銀行) said yesterday, as it released its Zero Carbon Future survey on the progress of firms reducing emissions.
For most companies that have taken action, adopting energy-saving and electricity-efficient approaches, and using environmentally friendly raw materials or substances in the manufacturing process, have become common practice, the survey showed.
The survey was released ahead of the COP26 climate summit, scheduled from Oct. 31 to Nov. 12 in Glasgow, Scotland, which is to focus on specific global actions to combat climate change as carbon reduction becomes an international trend.
Photo courtesy of Standard Chartered Bank (Taiwan) Ltd
The survey showed that 57.1 percent of the Taiwanese companies polled have not yet begun plans for carbon reduction, and 78.6 percent said that they do not know how to calculate their carbon footprint.
As for the firms that have initiated carbon reduction plans, one-third are seeking assistance from external organizations, while one-third are in the stage of measuring carbon emissions, indicating that enterprises need to invest more effort and resources to accelerate the transformation to keep up with the international trend, Standard Chartered said.
Regarding progress on carbon reduction, 75 percent of companies believe that their efforts are insufficient, while about 25 percent believe they would receive a passing grade compared with their peers, the bank said.
In the process of promoting carbon reduction, nearly two-thirds of the firms believe that “external professional units or consultants” and “policy program guidance and incentive measures” would be the most effective driving forces, followed by “domestic and foreign successful cases” at 50 percent, it said.
The survey also found that turning off lights and saving electricity is the most common practice companies implement, at 66.7 percent, followed by the use of environmentally friendly paper and stationery, at 47.6 percent.
In terms of business development, 45.2 percent have used environmentally friendly raw materials or substances in their manufacturing processes, while about 30 percent have adopted clean energy, such as solar or wind power, or recycled wastewater and waste materials to further reduce carbon emissions in their supply chains, the survey showed.
Climate change is a common challenge facing the world, including people in Taiwan, Standard Chartered Taiwan chief executive officer Ian Anderson said in a statement.
The government recently showed its determination to achieve the goal of reducing carbon emissions by 20 percent by 2025 and achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, Anderson said.
As for Standard Chartered, the bank aims to reach net-zero carbon emissions from its operations by the end of 2030 and from its financing by 2050, he said.
The bank has integrated its finance services with sustainability goals and in late July approved a US$505 million sustainability-linked loan to ASE Group (日月光集團), the world’s first such loan granted to the semiconductor packaging and testing industry, Anderson said.
The bank is determined to play a key role in the financial industry to assist clients to promote sustainability goals and looks forward to calling on more firms to pay attention to sustainability issues, he said.
In addition to helping clients realize their carbon reduction goals through financial services, Standard Chartered also looks forward to raising public awareness of sustainability and carbon reduction issues via multiple channels, the bank said.
On Wednesday, the bank and the Chinese-language Business Weekly held the Zero Carbon Future-Climate Change Summit Forum in Taipei, inviting experts including ASE chief operating officer Tien Wu (吳田玉) and KPMG Global Infrastructure Energy Sector lead Steven Chen (陳文正) to address the risks of climate change, low-carbon transformation and sustainable business models.
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