Steel and cement companies, as well as listed companies whose paid-in capital is higher than NT$10 billion (US$361.69 million) must from next year reveal their greenhouse gas emissions in annual reports, the Financial Supervisory Commission said yesterday.
The 163 companies that fulfill the criteria include Taiwan Cement Corp (台灣水泥), China Steel Corp (中鋼), Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控), Securities and Futures Bureau Deputy Director Sam Chang (張振山) told a news conference in New Taipei City.
The new regulations would require them to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions and power consumption, Chang said, adding that the information would be audited by third-party institutions.
Photo: CNA
“This new rule is intended to help companies prepare for emissions reduction, as the Environmental Protection Administration [EPA] is planning to bolster its regulations of emissions next year,” Chang said.
The EPA is planning to draw up a carbon pricing mechanism to reach the nation’s net-zero emissions target for 2050 in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction and Management Act (溫室氣體減量及管理法) and rename it the climate change act.
The agency is planning to start by charging businesses that emit more than 25,000 tonnes of carbon per year, which would account for 80 percent of Taiwan’s total carbon emissions.
Chang said that 101 companies with paid-in capital of NT$5 billion to NT$10 billion would need to disclose their emissions in 2025, and 1,482 companies with paid-in capital of less than NT$5 billion would have to begin annual disclosures in 2026.
The commission would ask the Taiwan Stock Exchange to establish a database for companies’ environmental, social and governance (ESG) information, and assess their performance, he said.
“More foreign institutional investors are interested in local companies with good ESG performance,” an exchange official said yesterday.
DISMAL OUTLOOK: A Citigroup analyst predicted firms face ‘the worst semiconductor downturn in at least a decade,’ due to inventory build and the potential of a recession Semiconductor stocks tumbled after Micron Technology Inc became the latest chipmaker to warn about slowing demand, triggering concern that the industry is heading into a painful downturn. In the US on Tuesday, the Philadelphia semiconductor index sank 4.6 percent, with all 30 members in the red, its biggest drop in about two months. In Asia, chip stocks from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to Samsung Electronics Co, SK Hynix Inc and Tokyo Electron Ltd slumped. Investors are growing increasingly skittish as the notoriously cyclical industry is hurtling toward a prolonged slump after years of widespread shortages that led to heavy
With a tantalizing array of satay chicken, wok-fried mud crab and chilled tiger prawns, the dinner buffet at Singapore’s Grand Hyatt hotel typically sets diners back about US$70. Those on a tighter budget and with an eye on sustainability can fill a box for one-tenth of that price. Across Asia, tech start-ups are taking food otherwise destined for landfill and providing discounted meals through mobile phone apps. About one-third of food is lost or wasted every year globally, and the mountains of waste are estimated to cause 8 to 10 percent of greenhouse gas emissions such as methane, the UN says.
MAJOR REVENUE CONTRIBUTOR: The company said that it expects revenue this year to increase annually due to an improved smart consumer electronics outlook Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday said revenue this quarter would be flat from last quarter, despite new phone models launched by key customers, as the market faces weakening demand. The iPhone assembler, based in New Taipei City’s Tucheng District (土城), said it is cautious about its business outlook, given mounting uncertainty regarding geopolitical tensions, soaring inflation and COVID-19 flare-ups, but still expects revenue this quarter to be higher than the NT$1.4 trillion (US$46.67 billion) it reported a year earlier. The forecast came as the company posted record second-quarter net profit of NT$33.29 billion, up 12 percent year-on-year from NT$29.78 billion.
Yageo Corp (國巨) yesterday said that its revenue would drop by a low single-digit percentage this quarter from a historical high last quarter, as customers and distributors are holding back demand to concentrate on inventory digestion due to flagging smartphone and notebook computer demand. The world’s biggest supplier of passive components expects to take three to six months to reduce its inventory of commoditized passive components to a normal level of 100 to 110 days, from 130 days currently. Yageo would reduce its factory utilization rate for standard passive components to about 60 percent this quarter, from about 70 percent last quarter,
RSS