A review committee established by the government yesterday recommended setting a basic carbon fee rate in the range of NT$300 to NT$500 (US$9.35 to US$15.58) per tonne of carbon emissions.
At its next meeting, the committee is expected to decide on an exact figure within that range, which would then be reviewed every two years, Climate Change Administration Deputy Director-General Huang Wei-ming (黃偉鳴) said.
The committee reached the long-delayed recommendation following four hours of talks at the meeting, its fifth since March.
Photo: Chang Chung-i, Taipei Times
The committee plans to hold a sixth and final meeting later this month or early next month, which would cover the guidelines for preferential carbon fee rates and finalize its recommendation for a basic carbon fee rate, Huang said.
It would also discuss plans to hike the carbon fee rate to NT$1,200 to NT$1,800 per tonne of emissions by 2030, he said.
Once the committee submits its proposals, the Ministry of the Environment would review them for final approval and begin the relevant legal procedures, he added.
According to regulations announced by the ministry last week, the ministry would begin collecting carbon fees in 2026, with next year being used as a preparation window in which only reporting of emission amounts for the previous year would be required.
Data compiled by the ministry based on 2022 emissions has shown that a total of 550 emitters meet the 25,000 tonnes threshold for paying a carbon fee.
At its previous meeting in July, the committee reviewed estimates showing that a carbon fee of NT$300 per tonne would lead to a 0.12 percentage point drop in GDP, while a NT$500 fee would cause a 0.2 percentage point fall.
Every 0.1 percentage point drop in GDP is equivalent to about NT$23.5 billion, based on last year’s GDP, the ministry said.
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