News
Carbon fee range to be NT$300-500 per metric ton
A government review committee is recommending a basic fee of between NT$300 and NT$500 per metric ton of carbon emissions.
Climate Change Administration Deputy Director-general Huang Wei-ming says the committee is now expected to decide on an exact figure within that range at its next meeting.
The committee reached the long-delayed recommendation after four hours of talks in what was its fifth meeting since March. The committee is planning to hold a sixth and final meeting in late September or early October.
The Climate Change Administration official says the talks will focus on setting guidelines for preferential carbon fee rates, finalizing a recommendation for a basic carbon fee rate and discussing plans to hike the carbon fee rate to between NT$1,200 and NT$1,800 per metric ton of emissions by 2030.
The Ministry of the Environment will begin relevant legal procedures for their implementation.
Business leaders are criticizing the government's proposed carbon fee rate range - arguing the plan will increase costs for companies and ultimately pass the buck onto consumers.
According to Lin Bo-fong, the chairman of the Third Wednesday Club, the proposed carbon fee rate, combined with a planned minimum wage hike, will increase costs by "at least 10%" for some companies.
Lin says his association's members believe the initial carbon fee rate should not exceed NT$100 per metric ton of emissions - as any amount above that figure could lead to "green inflation," or the passing on of such costs to consumers.
Other business groups are also questioning the proposed carbon fee rate range - saying the fee will increase the burden of many Taiwanese companies which, with the exception of the semiconductor industry, are already struggling.
And they're arguing that in order to protect the competitiveness of Taiwan enterprises, the government should not set its carbon fee rate higher than that of Japan, which currently stands at the equivalent of around NT$60 per metric ton of emissions.
