A carbon pricing mechanism that would charge big emitters is to be designed based on the EU’s new carbon bill, as long as the Environmental Protection Administration’s (EPA) proposed amendment to the greenhouse gas act is approved in the next legislative session, EPA Minister Chang Tzi-chin (張子敬) said yesterday.
Chang told a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee that a revision of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction and Management Act (溫室氣體減量及管理法) — which would be renamed the Climate Change Act and is due later this month — would include a carbon pricing mechanism, along with a net-zero target for 2050.
If the amendment is approved by the Legislative Yuan in the next session, the EPA would draft detailed regulations that would likely take effect in 2023.
Given the EU’s proposed Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, which seeks to reduce carbon emissions by 55 percent by 2030, Taiwan cannot indefinitely delay formulating a carbon pricing mechanism, as it would lose its bargaining power in trade negotiations with the EU, Chang added.
The proposal plans to start by charging businesses that emit more than 25,000 tonnes of carbon per year — this would account for 80 percent of Taiwan’s total carbon emissions.
Small and medium-sized enterprises would not be included in the early stage, but a rating system would be established to help them reduce carbon emissions and mitigate their negative impact.
The price range has yet to be finalized, but the EPA is following global trends and communicating with stakeholders to find best solutions for Taiwan, Chang said.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
STRIKE: Some travel agencies in Taiwan said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group tours to the country were proceeding as planned A planned strike by airport personnel in South Korea has not affected group tours to the country from Taiwan, travel agencies said yesterday. They added that they were closely monitoring the situation. Personnel at 15 airports, including Seoul’s Incheon and Gimpo airports, are to go on strike. They announced at a news conference on Tuesday that the strike would begin on Friday next week and continue until the Mid-Autumn Festival next month. Some travel agencies in Taiwan, including Cola Tour, Lion Travel, SET Tour and ezTravel, said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group
Taiwanese celebrities Hank Chen (陳漢典) and Lulu Huang (黃路梓茵) announced yesterday that they are planning to marry. Huang announced and posted photos of their engagement to her social media pages yesterday morning, joking that the pair were not just doing marketing for a new show, but “really getting married.” “We’ve decided to spend all of our future happy and hilarious moments together,” she wrote. The announcement, which was later confirmed by the talent agency they share, appeared to come as a surprise even to those around them, with veteran TV host Jacky Wu (吳宗憲) saying he was “totally taken aback” by the news. Huang,
RSS