The global trend of net-zero carbon emissions has gradually become policy but is it possible that enterprises can cope with it? Because it concerns the interests and stakes of future export costs, as many as 190,000 SMEs would urgently need counseling. MOEA indicated that it will launch comprehensive carbon verification for the industry in March, establish a platform to assist industry registration and initiate case-by-case counseling to reduce carbon emissions to convert high-carbon emission processes to low-carbon.

  In 2023, the European Union will start a pilot implementation of carbon tariffs (CBAM, Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism) which will directly affect the cost of Taiwanese manufacturers who export to Europe. The United States and Japan will also follow suit. In the future, electronics manufacturing plants related to the Apple supply chain in Taiwan will also have to confront Apple's requirements for net-zero carbon emissions. As such, the Financial Supervisory Commission announced that it will publish the "Roadmap of Sustainable Development for
Listed and OTC Companies" in March which requires all listed and OTC companies to complete carbon verification before 2027. Starting from next month, a total of 163 listed and OCT companies in the metal and cement industry have to disclose their carbon emissions in their annual reports. Besides this, MOEA will hold 10 sessions of public presentations before the end of March and Q2 to coach and counsel enterprises as they train inspectors for carbon verification. By the end of March, MOEA will establish a "Carbon Verification Calculator" as well as a knowledge platform for dummies so that enterprises can quickly build their carbon verification capabilities.

  Although the issues of carbon verification and carbon reduction have become a top priority for Taiwan's manufacturing industry, we have also observed an "M-shaped" curve within the context. As far as can be seen, large listed and OTC companies have sufficient human and financial resources to conduct carbon verification, and they even possess certain advantages in terms of green-power procurement. However, many SMEs remain unaware of carbon reduction issues and lack the necessary technology and resources for carbon verification. Based on statistics by the Industrial Development Bureau (IDB), there are currently about 190,000 SMEs that urgently need to establish carbon verification and reduction capabilities per the requirements of supply chain clients or CBAM of the EU. This includes trades like electronics, textiles, transportation, food, steel, and metals product industry, etc. Nonetheless, there are currently only 7 greenhouse gas emission inspection agencies approved by the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) according to the stipulations of the “Greenhouse Gas Reduction and Management Law” that are capable of meeting the needs of enterprises.

  Moreover, the TPCA will also launch carbon verification for Taiwan’s PCB industry this year. Although it was initially understood by Taiwan's PCB industry that "net-zero carbon emissions" are imperative, the government has not yet provided specific regulations as upstream customers have not yet reached any consensus on carbon reduction norms. Therefore, these manufacturers are at a loss for the time being and there are also no professional teams in this field to hand the issue over to. Thus, it is difficult to assess and evaluate how much investment capital would be needed for implementation. As such, it is hoped that with the government announcement this year, public associations and benchmark companies will take the lead to complete carbon verification, and steer the relevant supply chains to swiftly prepare according to a "major-leading-minor" approach.