Steel and cement companies, as well as listed companies whose paid-in capital is higher than NT$10 billion (US$361.69 million) must from next year reveal their greenhouse gas emissions in annual reports, the Financial Supervisory Commission said yesterday.
The 163 companies that fulfill the criteria include Taiwan Cement Corp (台灣水泥), China Steel Corp (中鋼), Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控), Securities and Futures Bureau Deputy Director Sam Chang (張振山) told a news conference in New Taipei City.
The new regulations would require them to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions and power consumption, Chang said, adding that the information would be audited by third-party institutions.
Photo: CNA
“This new rule is intended to help companies prepare for emissions reduction, as the Environmental Protection Administration [EPA] is planning to bolster its regulations of emissions next year,” Chang said.
The EPA is planning to draw up a carbon pricing mechanism to reach the nation’s net-zero emissions target for 2050 in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction and Management Act (溫室氣體減量及管理法) and rename it the climate change act.
The agency is planning to start by charging businesses that emit more than 25,000 tonnes of carbon per year, which would account for 80 percent of Taiwan’s total carbon emissions.
Chang said that 101 companies with paid-in capital of NT$5 billion to NT$10 billion would need to disclose their emissions in 2025, and 1,482 companies with paid-in capital of less than NT$5 billion would have to begin annual disclosures in 2026.
The commission would ask the Taiwan Stock Exchange to establish a database for companies’ environmental, social and governance (ESG) information, and assess their performance, he said.
“More foreign institutional investors are interested in local companies with good ESG performance,” an exchange official said yesterday.
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