我國永續金融與碳盤查法制之研究 —以碳盤查驗證與確信機構為中心

Abstract

兼顧自然環境與經濟活動之間的平衡已是全球必然的課題，為此各國紛紛尋求能夠人類永續的福祉以及建立低碳的環境友善解方，是以透過控制、管理溫室氣體排放量，消弭天氣暖化所產生的各種負面影響，成為全民邁向永續的第一步。不僅聯合國有鑑於此頒發的《京都議定書》、《巴黎協定》等，歐盟也於2019年起陸續提出的「綠色政綱」(European Green Deal)、「永續經濟轉型策略」以及「碳邊境調整機制」(Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, CBAM)，讓我國開始積極面對永續金融，並馬不停蹄地提出相關政策以因應國際趨勢。我國目前所採取的永續行動眾多，而為落實我國未來碳交易平台之建置，本次氣候變遷因應法修法亦引入碳盤查相關法制最受矚目。 我國目前碳盤查制度採取雙軌制，一則以行政院環境保護署（下稱「環保署」）為主的查驗證盤查、二則以行政院金融監督管理委員會（下稱「金管會」）為主的確信報告盤查，兩者所規範的客體與盤查管理並不相同，以環保署為主的查驗證機構依循的是國際標準ISO，而以金管會為首的確信機構則將確信標準ISAE 3410奉為圭臬。我國常見參考國際標準ISO的跨國驗證機構有英國標準協會(British Standards Institution, BSI)、通用驗證公司(Société Générale de Surveillance, SGS)等；而確信機構則以協助企業製作永續報告書的會計師事務所為主，如安永、勤業眾信等國際型會計師事務所。然而雙軌制在實行時可能因集團查驗歸戶劃分不清、國際要求與本國法令規範不一致，導致執行碳盤查時淪為多頭馬車，特別是在我國本次積極修法後同時開放了本土查驗證機構的資格，卻也因此帶來與國際接軌的疑慮。本文藉由整理國際間的環境協議，分析現行國際上的查驗證機構之現況及其所遵循的標準與方法，試圖整理並提出建議，讓我國能找出更完善的碳盤查管理之道。

Balancing between the natural environment and economic activities has become an inevitable issue over the world. Countries are seeking solutions to pursue sustainable human well-being and establish a low-carbon environment by controlling and managing greenhouse gas emissions. Eliminating the various negative impacts of climate warming has become the first step towards sustainable development for us. Given that United Nations issued the "Kyoto Protocol" and "Paris Agreement", and the European Union published the "European Green Deal", "Sustainable Economic Strategy," and "Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism" successively, Taiwan began to actively deal with sustainable finance and related policies. As Taiwan plans to implement carbon trading platforms in the future, the part of the revised "Climate Change Response Act" related to carbon inventory has attracted the most attention. Taiwan's current carbon inventory system adopts a dual-track system. One is the inspection and verification supervised by the Environmental Protection Agency of the Executive Yuan, and the other is the ESG report and assurance inspection supervised by the Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission. The subject matter and inventory management of the above two systems are different. The inspection and verification agencies supervised by the Environmental Protection Agency follow the international standard ISO, while the certification agencies supervised by the Financial Supervisory Commission incorporate the certification standard ISAE 3410 as their standard. In Taiwan, the verification agencies commonly seen that refer to the ISO standards include the British Standards Institution (BSI) and General Verification Company (Société Générale de Surveillance, SGS), etc. Other agencies adopting standards based on ISAE 3410 include accounting firms such as Ernst & Young and Deloitte. However, under the above system, the unclear division between group and individual inspection, and the inconsistent standards between international requirements and domestic regulations may pose challenges to the implementation of carbon inventory management. Particularly, after Taiwan amended the "Climate Change Response Act", which relaxes the qualifications for inspection and verification institutions, it might arise many doubts about whether the local inspection and verification institutions meet international standards. In light of these challenges, this thesis reviews related international environmental agreements, analyzes the current status of international inspection and verification agencies and the standards and methods they follow, and finally attempt to propose directions for reforming Taiwan’s carbon inventory laws.