It could take one to two months to finalize the carbon fee rate, as a review committee has not yet decided on the rate, but a plan to collect the fees from next year remains unchanged, Minister of Environment Shieu Fuh-sheng (薛富盛) said on Wednesday.
The Ministry of Environment was previously scheduled to announce the carbon fee rate this quarter.
However, Shieu told a legislative hearing that after a second meeting of the carbon fee rate review committee on Tuesday, the rate has still not been decided, but is expected to be finalized “in one or two months.”
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
Shieu said that although there would be no change to the carbon fee collection schedule, “the starting date of the calculation of fee-liable carbon emissions, initially set on Jan. 1, could be postponed, depending on when the carbon fee rate is set.”
According to the schedule previously announced by the ministry, entities that emit more than the equivalent of 25,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year would start to pay carbon fees next year, based on their emissions this year.
Asked about the review committee’s preliminary conclusions after two meetings, the minister said it has been agreed that the rate should be increased incrementally, with 2030 as the endpoint, in order for businesses to be able to plan operations accordingly.
The rate is to be based on science, while also taking into consideration the consumer price index and electricity rate hikes, he added.
Lawmakers also asked whether the fees paid domestically could be discounted from the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) when the latter starts to charge a carbon levy in 2026.
Shieu answered in the affirmative, but also said that not all carbon fee-liable emitters export their products to the EU.
“It will be mostly those small and medium enterprises that are not big emitters, mainly screw and fastener manufacturers, that will be affected by CBAM, and the Ministry of Economic Affairs has been working to help them respond to the measure,” Shieu said.
Environment ministry data showed that 550 emitters meet the 25,000-tonne threshold, according to 2022 emissions.
Snow fell in the mountainous areas of northern, central and eastern Taiwan in the early hours of yesterday, as cold air currents moved south. In the northern municipality of Taoyuan, snow started falling at about 6am in Fusing District (復興), district head Su Tso-hsi (蘇佐璽) said. By 10am, Lalashan National Forest Recreation Area, as well as Hualing (華陵), Sanguang (三光) and Gaoyi (高義) boroughs had seen snowfall, Su said. In central Taiwan, Shei-Pa National Park in Miaoli County and Hehuanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Nantou County saw snowfall of 5cm and 6cm respectively, by 10am, staff at the parks said. It began snowing
Global bodies should stop excluding Taiwan for political reasons, President William Lai (賴清德) told Pope Francis in a letter, adding that he agrees war has no winners. The Vatican is one of only 12 countries to retain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and Taipei has watched with concern efforts by Beijing and the Holy See to improve ties. In October, the Vatican and China extended an accord on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China for four years, pointing to a new level of trust between the two parties. Lai, writing to the pope in response to the pontiff’s message on Jan. 1’s
A Vietnamese migrant worker on Thursday won the NT$12 million (US$383,590) jackpot on a scratch-off lottery ticket she bought from a lottery shop in Changhua County’s Puyan Township (埔鹽), Taiwan Lottery Co said yesterday. The lottery winner, who is in her 30s and married, said she would continue to work in Taiwan and send her winnings to her family in Vietnam to improve their life. More Taiwanese and migrant workers have flocked to the lottery shop on Sec 2 of Jhangshuei Road (彰水路) to share in the luck. The shop owner, surnamed Chen (陳), said that his shop has been open for just
HOLIDAY EXERCISE: National forest recreation areas from north to south offer travelers a wide choice of sights to connect with nature and enjoy its benefits Hiking is a good way to improve one’s health, the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency said, as it released a list of national forest recreation areas that travelers can visit during the Lunar New Year holiday. Taking a green shower of phytoncides in the woods could boost one’s immunity system and metabolism, agency Director-General Lin Hwa-ching (林華慶) cited a Japanese study as saying. For people visiting northern Taiwan, Lin recommended the Dongyanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Taoyuan’s Fusing District (復興). Once an important plantation in the north, Dongyanshan (東眼山) has a number of historic monuments, he said. The area is broadly covered by
RSS