When President Lai Ching-te attended the "2026 Taiwan Sustainable Carbon Rights ESG Forum" this morning (18th), he said that the net-zero transformation is a sustainable movement across the ages. The government will adhere to three firm attitudes: continue to promote the digital and green "double-axis transformation" to strengthen energy resilience; As an inducement to reduce carbon emissions, assist industrial development; continue to inject funds to encourage enterprises to innovate and transform, and look forward to assisting Taiwan's industrial upgrading and innovative development as the global supply chain accelerates to net-zero, continue to enhance Taiwan's international competitiveness, and jointly create a more resilient, sustainable, and prosperous Taiwan.

When the President delivered his speech, he first thanked "ETtoday News Cloud" for its invitation. Last year, he participated in the "2025 Fraud Fighting Forum" and today he participated in the "2026 Taiwan Sustainable Carbon Rights ESG Forum". He fully felt that "ETtoday News Cloud" continues to exert its appeal and gather the power of industry, government, academia and research to help the government jointly face Taiwan's major issues and challenges.

The president pointed out that we are all very aware that the problem of climate change is becoming increasingly serious. Taiwan's average temperature is rising year by year, and the heat island effect is becoming more and more obvious. Therefore, he established the "Climate Change Countermeasures Committee" in the Presidential Office and proposed an important national policy, hoping to plant urban forests in all counties and cities in Taiwan to improve the heat island effect.

The president said that in the future, the government will also enact a new law to allow the central and local governments, and the public sector and civil society to work together to achieve the goals. With the joint efforts of the central government, experts and civil society, each county and city will also establish tree planting maps to gradually achieve the goal year by year. I am very happy to hear that President Wang Linglin took the lead in responding and hoped to plant 1 million trees in batches over 10 years to support the government. Thank you to President Wang and Dongsen Group for their strong support.

The President mentioned that Taiwan is now standing at an important turning point in energy, AI, energy conservation and carbon reduction. In response to the "Paris Agreement" and the implementation of the 2050 net-zero transformation, the government has completed Taiwan's overall carbon reduction action plan and proposed a target of reducing carbon emissions by 38% plus or minus 2 in 2035 compared to 2005. At the same time, with the formal launch of the carbon fee system, Taiwan has officially entered a new era of "carbon emissions have a price."

The President pointed out that in the net-zero era, carbon management capabilities are not only part of a company's ability to fulfill its environmental responsibilities, but also an important competitiveness that determines whether a company can obtain international orders and attract global capital. Today's forum specifically focuses on three core topics: "Carbon Rights and Carbon Fees", "AI and Energy Resilience", and "Sustainable Finance and ESG Governance", which accurately meet the most urgent needs of Taiwan's industrial transformation.

The President also thanked all those present for participating in this forum and sharing their valuable opinions and experiences. In the face of public concerns about carbon charges and energy issues, the government has three firm attitudes: First, continue to promote digital and green "dual-axis transformation" to strengthen energy resilience. Taiwan is a global semiconductor and AI center. In order to ensure sufficient green energy for the development of AI technology, the government will continue to promote energy transformation, develop diversified green energy and energy storage systems, and create a win-win situation for industrial development and environmental sustainability through digital technology and smart energy conservation.

Second, use the carbon fee system as an incentive for carbon reduction to assist industrial development. Three years after the Climate Change Response Act was enacted, Taiwan’s carbon fee system has conducted the first phase of declaration and payment in May this year. The government's promotion of carbon fees is not to increase the burden on enterprises, but to guide enterprises to reduce carbon emissions independently and help enterprises improve their competitiveness. As long as companies propose independent carbon reduction plans and implement carbon reduction, the government will provide preferential rates. At the same time, all carbon fee revenue will be included in the "Greenhouse Gas Management Fund", and the funds will be earmarked to subsidize industrial green transformation, technological innovation and other work, and together help everyone turn the pressure of carbon reduction into a driving force for industrial upgrading.

Third, continue to inject funds to encourage innovation and transformation of enterprises. In order to reduce the burden on enterprises in carbon reduction and innovative technologies, the government has set up another 10 billion yuan green growth fund to guide private capital to jointly invest in key areas such as energy storage, energy conservation, and low-carbon technology, hoping to further drive industrial innovation and create more green jobs. At the same time, it will actively promote Green Finance 3.0, hoping that through the power of investment and financing from financial institutions, it will drive various industries to connect supply chains and guide more companies to invest in transformation.

The President further noted that the government is also paying attention to the needs of MSMEs. After he took office, the Executive Yuan made a special effort to promote the diversified revitalization and development plan of small, medium and micro enterprises, allocating more than 10 billion yuan in funding each year and currently providing consulting services to 350,000 enterprises. On the second anniversary of taking office on May 20 this year, he also explained to the people across the country that the government would establish an eight-year, 100 billion yuan "Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises Upgrading and Transformation Development Fund" with an average annual investment of 12.5 billion yuan. In addition to the existing related funds of more than 10 billion yuan per year, about 25 billion yuan will be invested every year in the future to assist small, medium and micro enterprises to promote digital and net-zero transformation and further enhance their competitiveness. Now the government is also drafting the "Regulations on the Transformation, Upgrading and Development of Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises", hoping to comprehensively assist small, medium and micro enterprises in carrying out a dual-axis digital and net-zero transformation, so that no company can go it alone and no one can be left alone on the road to transformation.

The president said that the net-zero transformation is a sustainable movement across the ages. When the global supply chain is accelerating to net-zero, Taiwan needs to plan ahead so that carbon reduction is not only a challenge that companies must face, but also an opportunity for industrial upgrading and innovative development, so as to continue to enhance Taiwan's international competitiveness. Finally, on behalf of the government, I would like to once again thank "ETtoday News Cloud" and Dongsen Group for hosting today's forum, and wish the event a complete success. We look forward to working with everyone to build a more resilient, sustainable, and prosperous Taiwan.

Including Secretary-General of the Presidential Office Pan Meng-an, Ambassador-at-large and Chairman of the Taiwan Sustainable Energy Research Foundation Chien You-hsin, Environment Minister Peng Qiming, Economic Minister Gong Mingxin, and Deputy Minister of Transportation Chen Yanbo also attended the event.