Scholars Call for Climate Governance: Central and Local Governments Must Align Actions

Central News Agency (CNA), Chang Hsiung-feng, Taipei, May 27. Large carbon emitters must pay carbon fees by the end of May this year. The NTU Risk Center stated today that to strengthen climate governance, central and local governments must align their actions and enhance collaboration. The central government should propose a carbon fee allocation mechanism as soon as possible, while local governments should simultaneously increase their climate governance capacity.

According to the "Carbon Fee Collection Regulations," power, gas supply, and manufacturing industries with annual greenhouse gas emissions of 25,000 metric tons or more must pay carbon fees by the end of May this year based on last year's total emissions. The carbon fee was launched last year, and this year marks the first phase of actual payment.

The National Taiwan University (NTU) Risk Society and Policy Research Center released a "Policy Recommendation Paper on Central and Local Climate Governance Collaboration" today. It suggests that the central government should quickly propose fair and transparent criteria and processes for carbon fee allocation. It also calls on local governments to increase their climate governance capacity following the amendment of the "Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures."

Chou Kuei-tien, Director of the NTU Risk Center, stated that the relationship between the central and local governments should shift from a "delegated relationship" to a "partnership," emphasizing "aligned action between central and local governments." He stressed the need for two-way discussions on net-zero goals and execution strategies, as actual actions to achieve carbon reduction targets must adapt to various local contexts.

Li Chung-hsuan, an assistant professor at NTU's Graduate Institute of Public Affairs and a researcher at the NTU Risk Center, suggested that counties and cities could further clarify the responsibilities of climate change promotion committees through institutional tools such as local net-zero autonomous ordinances. He believes that much climate knowledge needs to be built from the bottom up, and local governments should institutionalize net-zero commitments as long-term policy goals.

Using the "Large Electricity Consumer Clause" as an example, Li noted that while local governments have an overview of electricity usage within their jurisdictions, it is difficult to obtain data on high-voltage users. He called on the central government to integrate data across ministries and state-owned enterprises to establish a national climate and energy data platform detailed to the county and city level. Local governments could then convert this into local open databases to implement evidence-based governance, allowing citizens to understand the city's net-zero progress through intuitive data.

Chou Li-fang, Director of the Green Energy Finance Research Center at National Chengchi University, stated that 70% of global carbon emissions come from cities, so "there is no net-zero country without net-zero cities." Each city's carbon budget is a leading indicator, essentially a "decarbonization roadmap." She also called for the establishment of a "Climate X Health" cross-domain model between central and local governments, injecting carbon fees into medical institutions for decarbonization, allowing them to become the last line of defense for public health.

Lai Wei-chieh, Executive Director of the Green Citizens' Action Alliance, stated that the powers, responsibilities, and resources for carbon reduction, adaptation, and climate governance should be aligned between central and local governments. He also called on county and city governments to submit an annual "gap report," which describes the specific gap between goals and actual execution, as well as how to improve, serving as a basis for carbon management, tracking, and adjustment, as well as a foundation for assisting those impacted by a "just transition."