Limited net zero knowledge in carbon-intensive industry workers: Survey

Taipei, Dec. 20 (CNA) Those working in the industries that will be most negatively impacted by net zero have an insufficient understanding of what the target is and what its impact will be, according to a survey published Wednesday.

The "Survey on Awareness of Just Transition of High-carbon Industries in Taiwan," published for the second year by National Taiwan University's Risk Society and Policy Research Center, found that 49.8 percent of respondents said they had little understanding of the government's net-zero policies.

Although that figure is still high, it marks a substantial decrease from last year's 81.2 percent, Chou Kuei-tien (周桂田), director of the research center, explained at a press conference held Wednesday to introduce the report's findings.

The survey included information from 521 employees, managers, and executives working in carbon-intensive industries who were surveyed between October and November.

Around 50 percent (46.8%) of those polled were worried about the burden of decarbonization impacting them personally, for example, costs being passed down to them, which is down from 57.7 percent from last year, Chou said, adding that it should be noted that younger and female employees were the most concerned.

Chou said the government should enhance community participation to further deepen "just transition consciousness" and build a strong social foundation for when net-zero transition policies are implemented.

The survey also found that most of those polled believed funds collected through carbon fees -- scheduled to be collected from 2025 -- should be used to boost employment by helping small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and laborers garner skills needed for success in low-carbon industries.

About 90 percent (89.9%) of those polled agreed that SMEs should be consulted before net-zero policies are implemented, and 77.5 percent said the government, companies, and employees should have three-way meetings to come up with ways to help manage the fallout from the policies.

David Walther (王瑞庚), program manager at the Center for Sustainability Science, Academia Sinica, said communication and assistance need to be in place early and be available to all those who will be affected, to avoid significant protests.

Walther also highlighted the importance of an Executive-Yuan-led oversight mechanism, instead of each ministry having to cope with net-zero issues alone, "such as the Ministry of Agriculture regarding solar power and the Ministry of the Interior regarding national land."

Following this logic, the Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of Welfare and Health are yet to be affected by net-zero issues and so have not made any moves, he said.

He added that a stronger cabinet-level directive needs to coordinate a comprehensive roadmap encompassing all ministries, especially the Ministry of Digital Affairs, which needs to develop "digital sustainability."

Ray Cheng (鄭中睿), director of Youth Labor Union 95, also pointed out that the Ministry of Education needs to take more of an active role in helping the public prepare for a green transition.

He noted a complete lack of human resource planning in the net-zero roadmap announced by the National Development Council in 2022.

Meanwhile, Chou stressed the carbon fee should be changed into a "carbon tax" as the use of the former is more restrictive.

The Climate Change Response Act specifies in Article 33 that the fees could be used to "assist the central competent agency to execute a just transition" among a list of 13 purposes.

"A carbon tax, administered by the Ministry of Finance, could potentially have a much wider scope of use as it would be collected by the central government," Chou said.