Carbon Fee Revenue Reaches Nearly NT$5 Billion; Ministry of Environment Announces Subsidy Regulations

(Central News Agency, reporter Zhang Xiongfeng, Taipei, 10th) The Ministry of Environment recently announced that the first carbon fee revenue has reached NT$4.97 billion. To properly utilize the carbon fee, the Ministry of Environment today announced relevant subsidy regulations, specifying application conditions and review deadlines. Additionally, regarding interest subsidy requests from industries, separate guidelines will be established.

The Ministry of Environment previously announced the carbon fee payment status. A total of 461 factories (240 companies) that are major carbon emitters were required to pay, with the final collected amount being NT$4.97 billion, which has been incorporated into the Greenhouse Gas Management Fund.

To properly manage the Greenhouse Gas Management Fund, the Ministry of Environment today announced the draft "Regulations for Subsidies on Greenhouse Gas Reduction Technologies and Climate Change Adaptation." These regulations establish rules for subsidizing projects related to greenhouse gas reduction technologies and climate change adaptation.

Wen Yuyong, Section Chief of the Climate Change Administration under the Ministry of Environment, told CNA reporters that the public comment period for these regulations is 10 days. A public hearing and consultation meeting is scheduled for the 18th to gather opinions from all sectors, with the aim of completing the announcement procedures as soon as possible.

According to the draft, the subsidy items include 7 major categories: measures for switching to low-carbon fuels or low-carbon production processes; energy-saving or peak electricity demand reduction measures; carbon dioxide capture, utilization, and storage technologies; negative emission technologies; measures to respond to international carbon border adjustment mechanisms; research and development of innovative technologies for greenhouse gas reduction or climate change adaptation; and other matters related to climate change adaptation research and greenhouse gas reduction.

The Ministry of Environment stated that applications should be reviewed and completed within 2 months of receipt. If an application does not comply with regulations or has deficiencies, the applicant must be notified to make corrections within a specified period. The total number of days for corrections shall not exceed one month. If corrections are not made by the deadline or are still non-compliant, the application will be rejected.

Following discussions by the members of the Greenhouse Gas Management Fund Management Committee, it was preliminarily agreed that approximately NT$2 billion will be used to subsidize businesses and local governments for greenhouse gas reduction or adaptation research. Additionally, approximately NT$500 million is expected to be provided to businesses for credit guarantees and interest subsidies.

Regarding interest subsidy matters, Wen Yuyong explained that since the current subsidy regulations do not include interest subsidies and credit guarantees, the Ministry will subsequently adjust and announce a draft amendment to the "Regulations for the Revenue, Expenditure, Custody, and Utilization of the Greenhouse Gas Management Fund." This amendment will add clauses for transition-related interest subsidies and credit guarantees, and separate guidelines will be established. These matters will also be explained at the public hearing and consultation meeting on the 18th. (Editor: Li Hengshan) 1150610