The Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE), the newly established Taiwan Carbon Solution Exchange (TCX), and the Center for Carbon Research and Solution (CCRS) at National Sun Yat-sen University (NSYSU) jointly hosted the first high-level forum in southern Taiwan today (30th) at National Sun Yat-sen University, titled “The Challenges of International Carbon Tariffs and Carbon Credit Issues under the Climate Change Response Act”. The event focused on the new international trade and economic order driven by “carbon reduction”, its impact on Taiwan, and the resulting “carbon anxiety”. Representatives from the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Kaohsiung City Government, and leading experts in the carbon credit field were invited to discuss key topics including international carbon tariffs, carbon fees, and just transition. Over one hundred professionals from industries such as steel, metal manufacturing, plastics, and photovoltaics participated attentively in the forum.

The featured speakers explored into topics include how Taiwan’s industries, government and academic sectors can work together under different domestic and international systems, industrial structures, and political-economical contexts, to strengthen industries' capabilities to grasp the information and concepts of carbon trading, improve laws, policies, consultation services, and talent training related to carbon credits. They also emphasized the need to establish a carbon trading mechanism that earns public trust in the future, assisting Taiwan society seize critical opportunities in industrial and energy transformation, and creating a more innovative, fair, and effective net-zero vision. These efforts should also fulfill environmental sustainability with a just transition for society.

Sherman Lin, Chairman of the TWSE, pointed out that the most important preparation work before the TCX begins actual trading, is talent cultivation and providing consultation services, so that the sustainability ideology of carbon governance can be advanced simultaneously across industry, government, and academia, thereby achieving net-zero sustainability. Tien-kuei Kuo, Secretary-General of Kaohsiung City Government, mentioned that the city council had just passed the “Net-Zero City Development Self-Governance Ordinance”. This is the first local net-zero regulation among the six municipalities of Taiwan, demonstrating Kaohsiung’s determination to actively reduce carbon emissions. While building a low-carbon, livable city, the initiative will also drive industrial transformation, creating economic value and employment opportunities in the carbon-reduction industry.

Furthermore, the city government has partnered with NSYSU and other local colleges and universities to establish a “Net-Zero Academy”, to facilitate the public in aligning with international trends and cultivate talents in the related profession. Ying-Yao Cheng, President of NSYSU, emphasized the importance of cross-disciplinary collaboration, communication, and exchange of insights. He noted that the newly established "CCRS" serves as a cooperative platform for industry, government, and academia to resolve “carbon anxiety”, bringing together experts, technologies, and theory toward research and development capabilities.

The forum also specially invited Chun-Li Lee, Deputy Director-General of Energy Administration under the Ministry of Economic Affairs, and Chien Ming Lee, Professor in the Institute of Natural Resources Management at National Taipei University, to deliver keynote speeches. Deputy Director-General Chun-Li Lee noted that, under the pressure of international carbon tariffs, alternative energy options can help reduce the carbon emission factor of electricity, and assist all enterprises to lower carbon tariffs. Professor Chien Ming Lee then pointed out that, under the framework of Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, carbon credit trading can reduce the marginal cost of carbon emissions. After analyzing the energy transition costs for Taiwanese enterprises, Professor Chien Ming Lee emphasized that carbon pricing will be a key driving force in motivating domestic enterprises practice net-zero transition. This insight followed by engaging responses from the participants.

Moreover, the forum invited a number of leading experts in the related field, including Jui-Hun Chang, Director of Environmental Protection Bureau of Kaohsiung City Government; Jui-Kun Kuo, Professor of Institution of Public Affairs Management at NSYSU; You-Ren Wang, Assistant Professor in the Department of Marine Environmental Engineering at NSYSU; Associate Professor Chien-Yuan Sher, Team Leader of the CCRS of NSYSU; Ke He Shi, Deputy Chairman of National Development Council; Wan-Yu Liu, Distinguished Professor of Department of Forestry at National Chung Hsing University; and Joshua Tien, General Manager of TCX, to engage in a panel discussion on international carbon tariffs, carbon credit trading, and net-zero transitions. The forum was hosted by Hung-Jeng Tsai, Director of the CCRS of NSYSU, he analyzed how enterprises shift away from past operating models by internalizing the external costs of carbon emissions. Although this approach aligns with environmental justice in safeguarding public goods, it often ends up passing on costs and sacrificing vulnerable groups. He emphasized that “the speed of achieving net-zero emissions must be fast enough, and the scale large enough, in order to reconstruct this systemic project of industrial capitalism”, calling for a historic first step toward Taiwan’s net-zero goal.