1.  Foreword

The Climate Governance Barometer (CGB) is the survey analysis developed by the Risk Society and Policy Research Center, National Taiwan University (RSPRC) to illustrate public attitudes toward climate issues in Taiwan. There are two principal reasons for the significance of climate change issues to Taiwan. On the one hand, the increasing frequency of extreme climate events like typhoons and droughts, has caused lots of loss and damage, directly impacting citizens' daily lives and safety. On the other hand, as one of the world's most important economies, Taiwan faces the potential challenges of meeting international commitments and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. However, based on the developmental state approach, Taiwan's industrial structure demands a substantial energy supply and contributes a considerable amount of GHG from the production process. Therefore, Taiwan has the responsibility to promote the net-zero transition. This is a matter of fulfilling international obligations and upholding a responsibility to future generations.

We believe that because Taiwan is a democratic society, public support and participation are crucial for the above-mentioned net-zero transitions. Consequently, analyzing and understanding public attitudes are needed for the climate decision-making process. By the review of past public opinion surveys, we can gain a deeper understanding of citizen's attitudes toward the public sector to formulate more effective and acceptable climate policies in the future.

In recent years, academic institutions have conducted some public opinion surveys on climate issues. CGB collects survey data from academic research from RSPRC and Academia Sinica. RSPRC has conducted a series of surveys on climate change, perceived risks of climate disasters, and public attitudes toward energy transition. These surveys were conducted in 2012, 2015, 2018, 2020, and 2023, and are collectively referred to as the RSPRC Surveys.

These surveys encompass a comprehensive array of subjects, including perceived risk, sustainable value, intergenerational justice, climate knowledge, nuclear energy use, renewable energy, carbon tax and fee mechanism, electricity price adjustment, risk communication, government role, corporate role, decision-making network, civic action, photovoltaic facilities, electric vehicles, citizen power plants, and numerous related topics.

The Academia Sinica's surveys can be classified into three principal parts, and all of them were administered by the Institute of Sociology, Academia Sinica. The first part is the Taiwan Social Change Survey (TSCS). In 2010 (Round 6-1) and 2020 (Round 8-1), respectively, TSCS adopted the Environment modules from ISSP as the survey subject. Furthermore, The questionnaires of the 2013 Risk Society module (Round 6-4) and the 2019 Technology and Risk Society module (Round 7-5) also encompassed some climate-related questions.

The second part comprises four-wave surveys (2017, 2019, 2021, and 2022) conducted by research fellows Hsiao Hsin-Huang Michael and Lin Thung-Hong from Academia Sinica, and Professor Hsu Keng-Ming from the University of Taipei respectively (hereinafter referred to as the Deep Decarbonization Survey). Compared to 2010 and 2020 TSCS which involves many different dimensions of environmental issues, four-wave Deep Decarbonization Surveys mainly analyze respondents' attitudes toward climate and energy issues. The third part is the Taiwan Social Image Survey (TSIS). TSIS is conducted on a biannual basis, with the objective of addressing the social issues that are currently of concern to Taiwanese society. Some TSIS questionnaires also asked respondents questions about climate and energy respects, including 2013A, 2014A, 2015B, 2016A, 2016B, 2017A, 2018A, and 2019A.

In addition to RSPRC and Academia Sinica, some non-governmental organizations (NGOs) also regularly conduct surveys of the general public. In particular, the Taiwan Institute for Sustainable Energy (TAISE) has conducted annual climate and energy surveys since 2011. The Mom Loves Taiwan Association (MLTA) has conducted climate surveys in 2016, 2017, 2022, and 2024. Otherwise, Greenpeace Taiwan has conducted climate surveys in 2018, 2021, and 2022.

CGB synthesizes the findings of prior surveys about climate change to elucide the trajectory of societal attitudes toward climate change through the analysis of survey data, such as public perceptions of climate risk; attitudes toward sustainable development and intergenerational justice; and perspectives on energy use and electricity pricing policies. We employ descriptive statistics and references to similar issues in preceding surveys to illustrate the evolution of public attitudes toward climate change.

Based on this framework, CGB is organized into four distinct parts for narration. The initial component is about survey description, which helps delineate the particular survey questions selected for the presentation of the background and rationale for the survey. The second is the analysis chart, wherein visual data are employed to illustrate the evolving trend of a specific climate change issue. The third element is about policy implication. In this part, the potential significance and impacts on climate policy-making are considered based on the observed changes in relevant data. Ultimately, the objective is to integrate the surveys conducted by NGOs on related issues to present a more comprehensive overview of public attitudes toward climate change in Taiwan.

2.  Perceived Risk

2.1. Survey description

Respondents' perceived risk is a pivotal concern in the majority of climate-related public awareness surveys. According to 12 surveys from RSPRC and Academia Sinica, approximately 80% of respondents indicated that they feel threatened by the potential risk of climate change. Considering the question "Do you agree or disagree with the statement: ‘In the next 30 years, Taiwan will experience more and more climate disasters?'" as an example, the 2023 RSPRC Survey revealed that 87.7% of respondents answered "strongly agree" and "agree" respectively. In other words, most citizens were worried that Taiwan would experience more climate disasters in the future.

2.2. Policy implication

The field of environmental sociology places significant emphasis on the importance of environmental awareness, which refers to the level of consciousness and knowledge individuals have regarding environmental issues and sustainability. Similarly, this concept is also applicable to climate issues. Consequently,  many countries conduct surveys to ascertain the public's awareness of global warming and climate risk, advance fundamental education, and cultivate climate awareness to enhance the public's awareness of climate risk, especially in extreme climate events such as droughts and floods.

In Taiwan, surveys conducted by RSPRC and Academia Sinica indicate that approximately 80% of the public is aware of the adverse effects of climate change on the environment. This also provides a crucial foundation for the government to evaluate the effects of climate change on the environment and develop policies and strategies toward net-zero transitions.

2.3. Related surveys

Note: The following table revealed perceived climate change risks, as documented by NGOs' surveys over a span of several years.

3.  Renewable Energy

3.1. Survey description

Renewable energy is an important basis for promoting net-zero transitions. To comprehend the public's attitude toward renewable energy, the pertinent survey questions designed by RSPRC and Academia Sinica can be classified into two types.

The first type of questions ask respondents regarding their degree of support for the government's policies about the advancement of renewable energy sources. In the surveys conducted in 2020 and 2023, RSPRC inquired as to whether respondents endorsed or concurred with the government's green energy policy objective of 2025, which involves augmenting the proportion of renewable energy generation to over 20%. The data are shown in Fig. 2-1. Notably, approximately 75% respondents expressed support or agreement, whereas only approximately 20% were opposed to this objective.

As for the second type questions, economic considerations were incorporated to analyze whether respondents are willing to bear higher cost for the advancement of renewable energy. According to 2019, 2021, and 2022 Deep Decarbonization Survey of Academia Sinica, respondents were asked as to whether they would be willing to pay higher price owing to the use of renewable energy. As Fig. 2-2 shows, between 55 and 60% of respondents were willing to pay an additional economic price for the development of renewable energy.

3.2. Chart

Fig. 2-1 Respondents' Willingness for the Government to Increase the Proportion of Renewable Energy in Power Generation (RSPRC Survey)

Fig. 2-2 Responses to Whether Respondents are Willing to Pay Higher Electricity Prices for Supporting Renewable Energy (2019, 2021, and 2022 Deep Decarbonization Survey of Academia Sinica)

3.3. Policy implication

The development of renewable energy sources is a pivotal element in climate change policy and net zero transitions. Renewable energy refers to energy that is derived from sources that are constantly and naturally replenished over a short period of time, such as sunlight, wind, water, biomass, and geothermal heat. Furthermore, renewable energy can serve as an alternative to traditional energy that relies on environmentally harmful fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas.

Consequently, relative survey questions focus on whether respondents support renewable energy the policies. Overall, approximately 70% of respondents support Taiwan taking steps to address global warming and back an energy landscape that prioritizes renewable sources over the next five years.

However, when respondents were asked on their willingness to bear a greater financial burden to support renewable energy, the percentage of those indicating support fell to between 55 and 60%. Nevertheless, this figure still represented a majority of respondents. The shift in this figure indicates that in advocating for renewable energy, the government must consider the potential ramifications of augmented economic outlays on public sentiment.

3.4. Related surveys

4.  Electricity Pricing

4.1. Survey description

Rationalizing electricity pricing is a pivotal issue for climate and energy policy. The relative questions are designed into two types to analyze public attitudes toward rational electricity pricing policy.

The first type asks whether respondents support a progressive electricity price system, wherein the price is directly correlated with the quantity of electricity consumed. In the 2017, 2019, 2021, and 2022 Deep Decarbonization Survey, respondents were asked whether they concurred with the assertion that the price per unit of electricity would increase in proportion to the quantity of electricity consumed by a household. Do you concur with this assertion? The survey results are shown in Fig. 3-1, with 78.9, 64.5, 59.6, and 69.1% of respondents showing support over the years. Although there were fluctuations in the level of support, it remained above 60%.

As for the second type, questions are designed to ask respondents' willingness to increase prices and the specific magnitude of any such increase. In 2018, 2020, and 2023 RSPRC surveys, respondents were asked to indicate their willingness to pay a specified increase in price. These three survey results, as Fig. 3-2 shows, indicate a notable decline in the number of respondents willing to pay a price increase. The highest number of respondents who indicated a willingness to pay a price increase fell in the lowest range of 2.7 to 3.0 TWD over the years. Considering the willingness to pay a price increase, the next highest number of respondents chose "unwilling to pay more" in 2018, "other" in 2020, and "between 3.0 and 3.5 TWD" in 2023.

4.2. Chart

Fig. 3-1 Whether Respondents Agree that the Higher the Electricity Usage, the Higher the price Should Be (2017, 2019, 2021, and 2022 Deep Decarbonization Survey of Academia Sinica)

Fig. 3-2 The Degree to Which Respondents are Willing to pay Increased price (2018, 2020, and 2023 RSPRC Survey)

Rational pricing of electricity is a policy tool that provides incentives to control energy consumption or promote energy efficiency by influencing consumer behavior through pricing mechanisms.

A comparison between the Deep Decarbonization Survey of Academia Sinica and RSPRC Survey revealed that in the last 7 years, over 60% of respondents expressed support for the proposition that "the more electricity one uses, the higher the price one should pay." This finding suggests that the majority of people are aware of and accept the principle of usage-based electricity pricing.

However, the situation becomes more complex when considering the RSPRC Survey questions regarding the respondents' willingness and the extent of the increase in greater detail. The majority of respondents indicated a willingness to accept only minimal increases: 2.7 to 3.0 TWD per kWh, with a notable proportion indicating a refusal to accept any increase.

These findings indicate that the public is sensitive to changes in electricity prices. Additionally, they suggest that price increases indeed have the potential to influence electricity consumption behaviors. Notably, the proportion of respondents who indicated their willingness to accept an increase in price between 3.0 and 3.5 TWD rose to 26.5% in the 2023 RSPRC Survey. These findings suggest that the majority of respondents still prefer a moderate change in electricity prices. However, as the public's perception of their ability to cope with climate change evolves, their willingness to pay for a price increase may also differ.

4.3.       Related surveys