Minister of Environment Peng Chi-ming (彭啟明) on Wednesday said that Taiwan’s long-delayed carbon fee would be set before the end of this year, pending two more review committee meetings.
“The fifth meeting of the carbon fee review committee is set to take place in early September,” and one more meeting is needed for the final decision on the rate, Peng said on the sidelines of a forum reporting corporate greenhouse gas emissions.
Committee members during meetings discussed other countries’ examples and simulations of how different fee rates would affect the economy, news releases said.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
The government had originally said the carbon fee would be set no later than the first quarter of this year, but that date has been repeatedly pushed back.
Peng also said that there have been various voices from the industrial and commercial sectors, “especially some from the traditional sector, who said they are already facing business challenges caused by recent dumping from neighboring countries.”
“However, we have reminded them that the era of carbon emissions coming at a cost has arrived, regardless of whether your business is making money,” he said.
The regulations on who is to pay, how carbon fees are to be paid and how carbon fee-liable enterprises can be qualified for preferential rates are to be officially announced at the end of this month after their drafts were tabled at the end of April, Peng added.
How much enterprises are to be charged depends on when the rate is announced, as chargeable emissions would be calculated from that date, Climate Change Administration Deputy Director-General Huang Wei-ming (黃偉鳴) said.
To prevent enterprises’ underreporting or greenwashing, the process of compiling greenhouse gas inventories and verification would be monitored, the minister said.
Peng said government agencies would also be required to report emissions, adding that regulations would be officially announced soon.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
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