Thailand To Become Second In Southeast Asia To Tax Carbon Emissions
Thailand To Become Second In Southeast Asia To Tax Carbon Emissions
Thailand To Become Second In Southeast Asia To Tax Carbon Emissions
泰國將成爲東南亞第二個對碳排放徵稅的國家。
Its carbon tax, expected to be introduced by next year, is not likely to make a dent on domestic or regional emissions initially. But it sends an important signal to energy producers and the private sector that reducing their carbon footprint is a government priority, they say. The kingdom's experience, together with Singapore's, could help get more of their neighbours on board and take carbon pricing to a scale that would move the needle on the region's emissions, according to an expert.
預計明年推出的碳稅最初不太可能對國內或地區排放產生影響。但他們表示，這向能源生產商和私營部門發出了一個重要的信號，表明減少碳足跡是政府的優先事項。與新加坡的經驗一起，可能有助於讓更多的鄰國加入並將碳定價提升至能夠推動該地區排放的規模，一位專家表示。
For countries that are still heavily reliant on fossil fuels – 85 per cent of Thailand's energy mix is oil, natural gas or coal – introducing a carbon tax is a "no brainer", said Dr Vinod Thomas, a visiting senior fellow at ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute and the former director general of the Asian Development Bank.
"The air is free, and so people pollute. And when the pollution is carbon dioxide, the air warms up, causes floods and storms of extreme proportions and then heatwaves and fires, which are already wreaking havoc in Southeast Asia. So, in that context, the question would be, why don't we then price the air?" he saSingapore rolled out a carbon tax in 2019 that covers about 80 per cent of its emissions. The tax was S$5 (US$3.70) per tonne of carbon-dioxide-equivalent (tCO2e) for the first five years and increased to S$25/tCO2e this year. It could reach S$50 to S$80 per tonne by 2030.
Thailand will follow suit, with the government announcing in June it would levy 200 baht (US$5.60) per tonne of CO2e on oil products such as diesel and gasoline.
Existing taxes on oil products will be converted to a carbon tax, meaning no additional revenue will be collected and thus, no costs should be passed onto consumers. It also means no new laws need to be passed.
對於仍然嚴重依賴化石燃料的國家而言——泰國能源比例中85％爲石油、天然氣或煤炭——引入碳稅是一個“沒有腦子”的決定，此話來自於ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute的訪問高級研究員、亞洲開發銀行前總裁Vinod Thomas博士。
“空氣是免費的，所以人們會污染。當污染物爲二氧化碳時，空氣就會變暖，引起極端洪水和暴風雨，然後會出現高溫和火災，這已經在東南亞造成了嚴重的破壞。那麼，在這種情況下，問題就是，我們爲什麼不給空氣定個價呢？”他說。新加坡在2019年推出了碳稅，覆蓋了約80％的排放。頭五年的稅額爲每噸碳氧化物相當於二氧化碳5新元（3.7美元），今年上調至每噸碳氧化物相當於二氧化碳25新元。到2030年，稅額可能達到每噸碳氧化物相當於二氧化碳50至80新元。
泰國將效仿新加坡，政府於6月份宣佈將對柴油和汽油等石油產品徵收每噸CO2e 200泰銖（5.60美元）的稅。
現有的石油產品稅將被轉換爲碳稅，這意味着不會收取額外的稅收，因此也不會將成本轉嫁給消費者。這也意味着不需要制定新的法律。
"At those rates, you don't see any effect, really. People would rather pay that and not cut carbon. And just to be clear, the objective is not to raise money. Your objective is to cut emissions," Dr Thomas said.
“以那樣的費率，你真的看不到任何效果。人們寧願支付這筆費用，也不願意減少碳排放。需要明確的是，目標不是籌集資金，而是減少排放。” Thomas博士說。
"But one cannot ignore the importance of even a US$5 tax, because it's a signalling," he said, comparing it to Singapore's five-cent levy on plastic bags at supermarkets aimed at cutting the use of disposables.
“但是人們不能忽視即使是5美元的重要性，因爲這是一個信號”，他將此與新加坡超市塑料袋收費五分錢的計劃進行了比較，旨在減少一次性用品的使用。
CNA
施耐安
譯文內容由第三人軟體翻譯。