Taiwan's Environmental Protection Administration has amended its plan for addressing climate change to include a carbon tax mechanism. This will be used as a step to help the country reach its goal of zero carbon emissions by the year 2050.
This move comes in response to the EU's implementation of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, an act meant to prevent EU countries from moving high carbon emission production to countries with less strict environmental protection laws.
On Thursday, lawmaker Lai Hsiang-ling asked Environmental Protection Administration Minister Chang Tzi-chin why Taiwan's climate change prevention measures differ drastically from the EU's plan. Under the Paris Climate Agreement, countries in the EU tax each ton of carbon dioxide at US$40-$80. Taiwan, meanwhile, only plans to tax US$3 per ton of carbon dioxide.
Chang says that Taiwan is not part of the United Nations or the Paris Climate Agreement, so holding Taiwan to the high EU standards is unnecessary and unrealistic. He says Taiwan should focus on the goal of reducing its carbon emissions, and that the exact carbon tax rate is only one component of this movement.
Chang says that the Environmental Protection Administration plans to send its revised climate change response plan to Taiwan's legislators in the next review session.