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.
AT RISK: The council reiterated that people should seriously consider the necessity of visiting China, after Beijing passed 22 guidelines to punish ‘die-hard’ separatists The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has since Jan. 1 last year received 65 petitions regarding Taiwanese who were interrogated or detained in China, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. Fifty-two either went missing or had their personal freedoms restricted, with some put in criminal detention, while 13 were interrogated and temporarily detained, he said in a radio interview. On June 21 last year, China announced 22 guidelines to punish “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists,” allowing Chinese courts to try people in absentia. The guidelines are uncivilized and inhumane, allowing Beijing to seize assets and issue the death penalty, with no regard for potential
STILL COMMITTED: The US opposes any forced change to the ‘status quo’ in the Strait, but also does not seek conflict, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said US President Donald Trump’s administration released US$5.3 billion in previously frozen foreign aid, including US$870 million in security exemptions for programs in Taiwan, a list of exemptions reviewed by Reuters showed. Trump ordered a 90-day pause on foreign aid shortly after taking office on Jan. 20, halting funding for everything from programs that fight starvation and deadly diseases to providing shelters for millions of displaced people across the globe. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has said that all foreign assistance must align with Trump’s “America First” priorities, issued waivers late last month on military aid to Israel and Egypt, the
‘UNITED FRONT’ FRONTS: Barring contact with Huaqiao and Jinan universities is needed to stop China targeting Taiwanese students, the education minister said Taiwan has blacklisted two Chinese universities from conducting academic exchange programs in the nation after reports that the institutes are arms of Beijing’s United Front Work Department, Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) published yesterday. China’s Huaqiao University in Xiamen and Quanzhou, as well as Jinan University in Guangzhou, which have 600 and 1,500 Taiwanese on their rolls respectively, are under direct control of the Chinese government’s political warfare branch, Cheng said, citing reports by national security officials. A comprehensive ban on Taiwanese institutions collaborating or
France’s nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and accompanying warships were in the Philippines yesterday after holding combat drills with Philippine forces in the disputed South China Sea in a show of firepower that would likely antagonize China. The Charles de Gaulle on Friday docked at Subic Bay, a former US naval base northwest of Manila, for a break after more than two months of deployment in the Indo-Pacific region. The French carrier engaged with security allies for contingency readiness and to promote regional security, including with Philippine forces, navy ships and fighter jets. They held anti-submarine warfare drills and aerial combat training on Friday in
RSS