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.
TRAFFIC SAFETY RULES: A positive result in a drug test would result in a two-year license suspension for the driver and vehicle, and a fine of up to NT$180,000 The Ministry of Transportation and Communications is to authorize police to conduct roadside saliva tests by the end of the year to deter people from driving while under the influence of narcotics, it said yesterday. The ministry last month unveiled a draft of amended regulations governing traffic safety rules and penalties, which included provisions empowering police to conduct mandatory saliva tests on drivers. While currently rules authorize police to use oral fluid testing kits for signs of drug use, they do not establish penalties for noncompliance or operating procedures for officers to follow, the ministry said. The proposed changes to the regulations require
The Executive Yuan yesterday announced that registration for a one-time universal NT$10,000 cash handout to help people in Taiwan survive US tariffs and inflation would start on Nov. 5, with payouts available as early as Nov. 12. Who is eligible for the handout? Registered Taiwanese nationals are eligible, including those born in Taiwan before April 30 next year with a birth certificate. Non-registered nationals with residence permits, foreign permanent residents and foreign spouses of Taiwanese citizens with residence permits also qualify for the handouts. For people who meet the eligibility requirements, but passed away between yesterday and April 30 next year, surviving family members
The German city of Hamburg on Oct. 14 named a bridge “Kaohsiung-Brucke” after the Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung. The footbridge, formerly known as F566, is to the east of the Speicherstadt, the world’s largest warehouse district, and connects the Dar-es-Salaam-Platz to the Brooktorpromenade near the Port of Hamburg on the Elbe River. Timo Fischer, a Free Democratic Party member of the Hamburg-Mitte District Assembly, in May last year proposed the name change with support from members of the Social Democratic Party and the Christian Democratic Union. Kaohsiung and Hamburg in 1999 inked a sister city agreement, but despite more than a quarter-century of
China Airlines Ltd (CAL) yesterday morning joined SkyTeam’s Aviation Challenge for the fourth time, operating a demonstration flight for “net zero carbon emissions” from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to Bangkok. The flight used sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at a ratio of up to 40 percent, the highest proportion CAL has achieved to date, the nation’s largest carrier said. Since April, SAF has become available to Taiwanese international carriers at Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport), Kaohsiung International Airport and Taoyuan airport. In previous challenges, CAL operated “net zero carbon emission flights” to Singapore and Japan. At a ceremony at Taoyuan airport, China Airlines chief sustainability
RSS