The Ministry of Environment’s 48-hour green talent training program has become the only program of its kind up to date with the latest regulatory development of carbon fees as local and international policies are incorporated into its updated version for this year, the ministry said yesterday.
The program was launched by the Alliance for Net Zero Green-Collar Talent Education last year, an organization established by the ministry, in cooperation with 32 universities, and run by the ministry’s National Environmental Research Academy.
The cooperation has expanded to 36 universities across Taiwan, with each city or county possessing at least one university offering the training locally for applicants, the ministry said, allowing up to 3,500 people to potentially cycle through the course nationwide this year.
Photo: EPA
The updated course educates about internationally developing carbon fee schemes, including emissions trading systems (ETS), carbon border adjustment mechanisms (CBAM) and the Science-Based Targets initiative, it said.
It focuses on the three major carbon fee-related schemes the government announced in 2024, including the Regulations Governing the Collection of Carbon Fees (碳費收費辦法), the Regulations Governing Self-determined Reduction Plans (自主減量計畫管理辦法) and Designated Greenhouse Gas Reduction Goal for Entities Subject to Carbon Fees (碳費徵收對象溫室氣體減量指定目標), the ministry said.
A major change in the program is a realignment with the EU’s CBAM, enforced from the beginning of this year, as well as Taiwan’s upcoming carbon fee levy in May, it said.
Carbon emissions are no longer purely an environmental issue, as they are a key indicator that could affect a company’s cost structure and competitiveness, it added.
Academy acting president Wu Yueh-chuen (巫月春) said the updated program not only systematically analyzes the principles of ETS and CBAM and proposed countermeasures for industries, but also bases its courses on the Climate Change Adaptation Act (氣候變遷因應法) to look at a bigger picture that integrates domestic and international carbon fee schemes.
A core benefit of the updated program is trainees would learn about the latest policy developments and equip themselves with knowledge of the latest best practices in industries, she said.
For the 2,000 participants who went through the program last year, the academy would hold a refresher workshop in the first half of this year to provide them with updates, Wu said.
Separately, Minister of Environment Peng Chi-ming (彭?明) on Monday said the ministry would head to the EU on Feb. 21 to discuss issues related to the EU’s CBAM.
The goal is to ensure that the EU would accept certificates issued by verification mechanisms of carbon footprints or carbon credits established in Taiwan, he said.
The mission for the EU visit is to find out how and how much the carbon fees paid in Taiwan can offset the cost of the EU’s CBAM certificates, Peng said, adding that the EU has shown a welcoming attitude toward Taiwan’s carbon fee system and verification mechanisms.
Different countries have different carbon fee systems that must be negotiated with the EU, he said, adding that he expects Taiwan to achieve better results than most other countries by the middle of the year.
Additional reporting by CNA
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