While major carbon emitters must pay a carbon fee starting next month based on their emissions last year, 224 facilities, which produce about 76 percent of total emissions, qualified for an 80 percent discount due to high carbon leakage risks, the Ministry of Environment’s Climate Change Administration said yesterday.
The Regulations Governing the Collection of Carbon Fees (碳費收費辦法) stipulate that entities that had annual greenhouse gas emissions of 25,000 tonnes or more last year must pay a carbon fee by the end of next month.
According to the ministry, Taiwan expects to collect around NT$4.5 billion (US$142.8 million) in carbon fees by the end of May as major greenhouse gas emitters face the country’s first mandatory payment deadline.
Photo: CNA
Climate Change Administration Director-General Tsai Ling-yi (蔡玲儀) said it is estimated first-year revenue will be about NT$4.5 billion, with about NT$4.05 billion earmarked for spending.
Funds will be used to support emissions reduction technologies, local government mitigation and adaptation efforts, climate governance, just transition measures, and financing tools such as interest subsidies for net-zero projects.
It is the first time the carbon fee is to be collected since the regulations were promulgated in August 2024.
Under Article 6, entities that have obtained approval from the central competent authority for a self-determined reduction plan, and have been reviewed and recognized as belonging to an industry with “high carbon leakage risks,” would pay a carbon fee multiplied by an emissions adjustment coefficient.
The coefficient for the first phase of the reduction plan is 0.2, amounting to an 80 percent discount.
High carbon leakage risk industries are split into two groups.
Category 1 is a “positive list” based on official industry classifications and calculations of trade exposure, emissions intensity and carbon fee levels.
Category 2 covers companies that can prove their profits are affected by carbon leakage risks, including those whose products face anti-dumping duties or are significantly impacted by US tariff policies.
The estimated number of Category 1 facilities was 260, but only 204 facilities applied and passed the review, Tsai said yesterday.
Together with 20 facilities in Category 2, a total of 224 facilities passed the review, she said.
This year’s total taxable emissions are estimated at about 145 million tonnes, with approved high carbon leakage risk facilities accounting for about 76 percent of total emissions, she said.
Compared with the EU’s emissions trading system, where up to 90 percent of carbon allowances are given for free, Taiwan’s approach is relatively strict, she added.
If a company adopts the stricter Type A self-directed emissions reduction plan and qualifies for a preferential rate of NT$50 per tonne of carbon and is approved as a high carbon leakage risk facility, then under the formula, if its emissions are 1 million tonnes, only 200,000 tonnes would be subject to payment, Tsai said.
Taiwan Cement Corp is one such company, she added.
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