The Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) and the Taiwan Carbon Solution Exchange (TCX) on Monday each signed memorandums of understanding (MOU) with the Eswatini Stock Exchange in Taipei.
The signings with Eswatini, Taiwan’s only remaining UN-recognized diplomatic ally in Africa, came in response to Taipei’s foreign policy efforts, and are a significant milestone for cooperation between the two sides’ capital markets, the TWSE said in a statement.
TCX CEO Joshua Tien (田建中) said its MOU would link the two carbon credit markets, with credits based on Eswatini’s abundant natural resources likely to be traded on the TCX.
Photo: CNA
As for the stock exchange MOU, TWSE president Chien Lih-chung (簡立忠) said it was the first partnership between Taiwan and Eswatini related to capital markets and had symbolic significance.
“The collaboration will enable Taiwan to share its experience with the world and bolster Taiwan’s international influence,” Chien said.
Ray Lin (林瑞岳) — chairman of Taiwanese textile group Tex-Ray Industrial Co, which has invested in Eswatini for more than 20 years, and a former honorary consul-general of Eswatini in Taiwan — was a key advocate for the MOU signings.
He said he has high expectations for bilateral cooperation on carbon credits because of Eswatini’s natural resources and the carbon sinks they represent.
The partnership between the countries would start with exchanging carbon credit-related information and sharing carbon credit techniques and know-how, before expanding to talent training and other substantive exchanges, Tien said.
Eswatini’s carbon credits, which would most likely be “green and yellow carbon” credits, could be traded on the TCX after being certified by international institutions and reviewed by the Ministry of Environment, he said.
Green credits are from natural carbon sinks found on land, mainly forests, while yellow credits are soil, and can be created by changing to organic farming practices, he said.
Central Bank of Eswatini Governor Phil Mnisi, who witnessed the signings, said that Eswatini’s climate issues, including floods, droughts and heat waves, have worsened in the past few years, indicating that climate change must be addressed immediately.
Carbon credits are one way to do so, he said, adding that Article 6 of the Paris Agreement allows countries to transfer carbon credits earned from the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to another country to meet the climate targets.
Liou Je-liang (劉哲良), TCX board member and a research fellow at the Center for Green Energy of the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research in Taipei, said that Article 6 provides a way for Taiwan and Eswatini to work together on carbon credits.
Taiwan is not a signatory to the Paris Agreement, adopted by UN members in 2015, but it has kept tabs on the agreement’s requirements and aligned its policies accordingly.
Compared with Taiwan’s foreign aid to its allies, which mainly involves one-way financial assistance, the MOU on carbon promises mutual benefits, with Taiwan helping with carbon credit techniques and certification, while Eswatini lists carbon credits on the TCX, Liou said.
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