The Ministry of Environment on Thursday announced regulations governing how entities can produce carbon credits or offset their emissions as part of Taiwan’s bid to hit its net zero emissions target.
Two new regulations would oversee how entities manage their carbon emissions: One governs “voluntary reduction projects” by businesses and government entities and the other one governs emissions generated by businesses on development and construction projects, the ministry said.
The first regulation states that entities that emit less than 25,000 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide — and are therefore not subject to the carbon fee — would be eligible to undertake “voluntary carbon emission reduction projects” that follow the internationally accepted measurable, reportable and verifiable guidance.
Photo: Wu Po-hsuan, Taipei Times
The reductions would need to have the characteristics of “additionality, avoiding overestimation, permanence, exclusive claim to GHG [greenhouse has] reductions, and avoiding social and environmental harms,” the Climate Change Administration Deputy Director-General Huang Wei-ming (黃偉鳴) said.
He said “additionality” meant that reductions would have to be made in addition to what entities are already doing to conform to the country’s existing environment-related legislation such the Air Pollution Control Act (空氣汙染防制法).
The voluntary projects would be categorized into the “removal type” or the “reduction or avoidance type,” with carbon removal meaning the elimination of existing carbon emissions, and carbon reduction or avoidance meaning the technology-based reductions of emissions.
Entities that emit more than 25,000 metric tonnes a year — the carbon fee payers — would not be eligible for the “voluntary projects,” as they are obligated to cut emissions, the administration said.
They would be able to purchase carbon credits produced by those who participate in voluntary projects to partially offset their carbon fees, and if they reach a certain reduction goal, they would be granted a preferential carbon fee rate.
The second regulation would require those setting up new factories emitting more than 25,000 metric tonnes a year, or high-rise construction projects, to partially offset their newly generated emissions, either by buying carbon credits from voluntary projects or by implementing other offsetting measures.
Offsetting measures generating “quasi-carbon credits” include replacing motorcycles running on fuel with electric ones, using high-efficiency air-conditioning and replacing old agricultural machines.
Huang said the objective of “quasi-carbon credits” is to shift the burden of promoting electric motorcycles and other energy-efficient products from government to big businesses.
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