Minister of Environment Peng Chi-ming (彭啟明) on Wednesday said that Taiwan’s long-delayed carbon fee would be set before the end of this year, pending two more review committee meetings.
“The fifth meeting of the carbon fee review committee is set to take place in early September,” and one more meeting is needed for the final decision on the rate, Peng said on the sidelines of a forum reporting corporate greenhouse gas emissions.
Committee members during meetings discussed other countries’ examples and simulations of how different fee rates would affect the economy, news releases said.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
The government had originally said the carbon fee would be set no later than the first quarter of this year, but that date has been repeatedly pushed back.
Peng also said that there have been various voices from the industrial and commercial sectors, “especially some from the traditional sector, who said they are already facing business challenges caused by recent dumping from neighboring countries.”
“However, we have reminded them that the era of carbon emissions coming at a cost has arrived, regardless of whether your business is making money,” he said.
The regulations on who is to pay, how carbon fees are to be paid and how carbon fee-liable enterprises can be qualified for preferential rates are to be officially announced at the end of this month after their drafts were tabled at the end of April, Peng added.
How much enterprises are to be charged depends on when the rate is announced, as chargeable emissions would be calculated from that date, Climate Change Administration Deputy Director-General Huang Wei-ming (黃偉鳴) said.
To prevent enterprises’ underreporting or greenwashing, the process of compiling greenhouse gas inventories and verification would be monitored, the minister said.
Peng said government agencies would also be required to report emissions, adding that regulations would be officially announced soon.
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