Taiwan’s production of “carbon rights” at 5 million tonnes per year would yield an annual NT$7.13 billion (US$251.41 million) if monetized via a carbon tax or other mechanisms, and augment Taiwanese farmers’ income, the Council of Agriculture’s Zero Emission Taskforce said.
Carbon rights refers to carbon stored by plants and other biomass. It has potential value because such storage serves to mitigate climate change, and its value could be monetized or “traded” via a carbon tax or other mechanisms.
Six years ago, the council began researching and breeding plant cultivars that would be more resilient to severe climate patterns, Council of Agriculture Minister Chen Chi-chung (陳吉仲) said in an interview on Wednesday with the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper).
Photo: Chen Wen-chan, Taipei Times
However, such measures only support more effective climate-change solutions, and climate problems could only be resolved through a reduction of carbon emissions to zero, Chen said.
Such measures are being implemented internationally, he added.
In an effort to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, the International Energy Agency has said that fossil fuel sources should not be used past 2028, Chen said.
The EU is scheduled to begin implementing what is called a novel carbon border adjustment mechanism starting next year, and to require EU importers to purchase certificates equivalent to weekly EU carbon prices starting in 2026.
Taiwan should also pursue similar goals and frameworks by using Taiwan’s agricultural resources as carbon sinks, Chen said.
The creation of carbon sinks would allow the council to help farmers obtaining “carbon rights,” he said.
This would occur within the Environmental Protection Administration’s carbon rights exchange program, which follows the UN Clean Development Mechanism and Voluntary Carbon Standard, he added.
The council is pushing for measures to help farmers obtain the equipment necessary to implement “circular agriculture” and cut down on carbon emissions, he said.
“Agriculture in the past played a supporting role in the development of industry, but today it must work with the industrial sector to be more competitive on the international market,” Chen said.
The council plans to establish 10 model facilities to promote circular agriculture, which minimizes environmental harms, he said.
Recycling animal waste to generate biogas would make farms and farming villages self-sufficient in power generation, he said, adding that excess power could be sold to the electricity grid.
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