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.
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