Business Today held the 4th ESG Sustainability Taiwan International Summit in Taipei on March 18, inviting government bodies as well as Taiwanese companies to share their low-carbon practices, including carbon disclosure, technological innovation, and green trading.
Taiwan ranks fifth in global carbon disclosure; CDP to launch new questionnaire for SMEs
Carbon disclosure will be a trend in international trade, said Tseng Wen-sheng (曾文生), deputy minister of the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), pointing out that Taiwan ranked fifth globally in terms of declaration in the first phase of the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), demonstrating the capability of domestic companies to make declarations and their high sensitivity to carbon pricing.
This year's ESG Taiwan Sustainable International Summit invites Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP)’s chief impact officer Bartlett (second from left) to engage in dialogue with enterprises. (Photo: Nana Chen)
Nicolette Bartlett, Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP)'s chief impact officer, said that more than 23,000 companies worldwide have conducted carbon disclosure through CDP, with significant growth in Asia in recent years.
In Taiwan, 624 companies have completed carbon disclosure through CDP, a 22% increase from 2022, indicating Taiwanese companies' recognition of the importance of carbon disclosure, she said.
She added that CDP is optimizing the disclosure process and will launch a streamlined questionnaire for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Bartlett shared that CDP's motto is "What you can measure, you can manage of," emphasizing that disclosing carbon emissions is the first step in carbon management, and the data would be crucial for business decision-making, enabling effective cost risk management and enhancing competitiveness.
Star Exchange aims to become "energy Uber" for corporate carbon neutrality
Star Exchange, HDRE's subsidiary, helps enterprises meet their carbon reduction needs by designing green energy solutions through data collection and analysis, as well as a smart cloud system.
Star Exchange is currently one of the top five electricity suppliers in Taiwan, with a total contracted capacity of 13.9 billion kWh as of January 2024 and a projected transfer capacity of 2.015 billion kWh by 2028, serving clients in industries such as finance, semiconductors, and telecommunications.
Guan Ting-yi (關婷怡) (center), general manager of Star Exchange, says the corporate carbon anxiety comes from trade. (Photo: Nana Chen)
The group has undergone three transformations, from power plant development, one-stop site development including engineering construction, to AI-driven smart power transformation, such as their TITAN Smart Green Power System, which enables real-time management of on-site power generation status, green electricity transfer data, etc., according to Guan Ting-yi (關婷怡), general manager of Star Exchange.
She said the company's goal is to become a smart power service provider, "to be an energy Uber," and deliver green electricity to every business and user.
The motivation of businesses to reduce carbon emissions actually comes from the trade pressure, she said, adding that purchasing green electricity is an effective tool to reduce carbon emissions.
Currently, renewable energy accounts for about 10% of Taiwan's power generation, and the power market is expected to liberalize further as countries continue to develop renewable energy.
E Ink introduces e-paper technology for vehicle energy efficiency
E Ink, specializing in electronic paper display products, is committed to expanding the application of e-paper technology.
E-paper has low power consumption, emits no light, and has no blue light, making it suitable for e-readers, said E Ink's Chairman Li Cheng-hao (李政昊).
The company is actively extending this sustainable technology to other products. For example, the i5 Flow NOSTOKANA, an art car co-developed with BMW, utilizes color-changing e-paper technology to display rich patterns on the body of the car, while changing colors to save energy. During hot weather, the body of the car reflects more sunlight in white, while when it is cold, it switches to heat-absorbing black.
E Ink's chairman Li Cheng-hao (李政昊) shares an art car featuring e-paper technology. (Photo: Nana Chen)
The carbon footprint of e-paper is much lower than that of liquid crystal panels (LCDs), and many business opportunities have emerged amid the ESG trend, including applications in logistics, advertising billboards, and bus stop signs.
Li said that the company's electronic label business is growing rapidly, with shipments reaching 300 million pieces last year.
Previously, the US retail giant Walmart announced that all of its stores would switch to electronic labels, with an expected usage of up to 600 million pieces.
Taiwan focuses on voluntary carbon trading with SME-friendly participation
With major international brands like Apple setting net-zero targets, carbon reduction has become a top priority for Taiwanese businesses in the global supply chain.
The Taiwan Carbon Solution Exchange (TCX) adopts economic mechanisms to promote business emissions reduction, providing tools for companies to reduce carbon in the supply chain.
Tian Jian-zhong (田建中), general manager of TCX, said that Taiwan focuses on voluntary carbon trading, where companies can invest in projects such as afforestation to obtain reduction credits.
Tian Jian-zhong (田建中), general manager of TCX, delivers a speech at the 2024 ESG Taiwan Sustainable International Summit. (Photo: Nana Chen)
The TCX will focus on three major businesses in the future: domestic emissions reduction credits trading, international emissions reduction credits trading, and carbon consulting.
The international carbon trading platform was launched at the end of 2023, using the US dollar to align with international standards and trading with trust accounts and sub-accounts to protect both buyers and sellers and to facilitate the participation of SMEs.
The account opening is conducted entirely online, with an audit period of 30 days, significantly more efficient compared to two to three months internationally.
The TCX is currently discussing with the Ministry of Environment rules related to using international carbon credits to offset carbon fees, while the domestic carbon credit platform is expected to go online in the second half of the year.
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Purchasing carbon credits does not mean less carbon reduction efforts
Tien added that some enterprises regard carbon trading as greenwashing, but statistically it is relatively rare.
He cited a report in Time magazine last year, in which Ecosystem Marketplace surveyed over 7,000 companies worldwide purchasing carbon credits.
The survey found that companies purchasing carbon credits invested over three times more in reducing carbon emissions compared to those that don't, and their engagement in scientific climate goals like the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) was also three to four times higher, demonstrating that companies purchasing carbon credits do attach importance to climate action, including companies that engaged in the first batch of carbon credit trading last year, such as TSMC.
While the carbon market will expand as demand for carbon reductions increases, the current global stock of voluntary carbon credits can only offset a small portion of the total annual carbon emissions from fossil fuels, he said, adding that it is far from enough to make all sectors carbon neutral.
