The starting price for carbon emissions should be NT$500 per tonne when the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) begins implementing a carbon pricing mechanism next year, civic groups said at a forum on net zero carbon emissions yesterday.
Taiwan’s carbon pricing should be in sync with the international community, they said, adding that the fee should be increased to NT$3,000 per tonne by 2030.
Environmental Rights Foundation researcher Lin Yen-ting (林彥廷) said that the EPA should not begin deliberating over preferential rates until levying carbon fees has become an incentive for corporations to reduce emissions.
Singapore is planning to impose a carbon fee of NT$570 per tonne next year, and the starting price in Taiwan should be about NT$500 per tonne, Lin said.
However, the carbon fee should be gradually adjusted to reach NT$3,000 per tonne by 2030, he said.
Aside from designing a mechanism for charging carbon fees, the government should draft a plan to spend income from carbon fees, Lin said.
“The government should ensure that big polluters pay their fair share and work to reduce carbon emissions. Carbon fees should also be used to engage people in global climate action plans and subsidize the use of the public transportation system,” he said.
Although the EPA would be in charge of collecting carbon fees, the government should move toward imposing a carbon tax, which should be collected by the Ministry of Finance, as carbon fee incomes are subject to spending regulations other than tax incomes, he said.
Shaw Daigee (蕭代基), an adjunct research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of Economics, said that the government should draft a carbon tax plan within the next three years.
“The government could levy carbon fees in the next three years, during which legislation governing the collection of a carbon tax should be drafted,” Shaw said.
EPA Deputy Minister Shen Chih-hsiu (沈志修) said that the agency is planning to set up a committee to review carbon fee rates and assist corporations participating in a voluntary carbon emissions plan.
Further information about the committee would be unveiled in August, Shen added.
“Preferential rates are to be implemented to encourage corporations to voluntarily reduce carbon emissions. Should they fail to reach their target, they would be required to retrospectively pay carbon fees,” Shen said.
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck off the coast of Hualien County in eastern Taiwan at 7pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter of the temblor was at sea, about 69.9km south of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 30.9km, it said. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County’s Changbin Township (長濱), where it measured 5 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 4 in Hualien, Nantou, Chiayi, Yunlin, Changhua and Miaoli counties, as well as
Credit departments of farmers’ and fishers’ associations blocked a total of more than NT$180 million (US$6.01 million) from being lost to scams last year, National Police Agency (NPA) data showed. The Agricultural Finance Agency (AFA) said last week that staff of farmers’ and fishers’ associations’ credit departments are required to implement fraud prevention measures when they serve clients at the counter. They would ask clients about personal financial management activities whenever they suspect there might be a fraud situation, and would immediately report the incident to local authorities, which would send police officers to the site to help, it said. NPA data showed
ENERGY RESILIENCE: Although Alaska is open for investments, Taiwan is sourcing its gas from the Middle East, and the sea routes carry risks, Ho Cheng-hui said US government officials’ high-profile reception of a Taiwanese representative at the Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference indicated the emergence of an Indo-Pacific energy resilience alliance, an academic said. Presidential Office Secretary-General Pan Men-an (潘孟安) attended the conference in Alaska on Thursday last week at the invitation of the US government. Pan visited oil and gas facilities with senior US officials, including US Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy and US Senator Daniel Sullivan. Pan attending the conference on behalf of President William Lai (賴清德) shows a significant elevation in diplomatic representation,
The Taipei MRT is to begin accepting mobile payment services in the fall, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said on Saturday. When the company finishes the installation of new payment units at ticketing gates in October, MRT passengers can use credit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay, the operator said. In addition, the MRT would also provide QR payment codes — which would be compatible with Line Pay, Jkopay, iPass Money, PXPay Plus, EasyWallet, iCash Pay, Taiwan Pay and Taishin Pay — to access the railway system. Currently, passengers can access the Taipei MRT by buying a single-journey token or using EasyCard,
RSS