TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Michael, a 12-year-old elementary school student in New Taipei, is too hot. 

"Climate change doesn’t really affect my life, apart from the fact I’m soaked in either in sweat or rain everyday,” the Kang Chiao International School (KCIS) student said in May. Despite that, he said he cares about climate change, and thinks it's important, as did the 25 other 10-12 year old New Taipei elementary school students Taiwan News spoke to about the topic.

Dora, a student in New Taipei, said she believed the government could tell people to reduce air pollution and to prevent them from polluting waterways. Her classmates Yuki and Grace agreed, however most students connected climate change mitigation efforts with the need for personal action.

Students spoke about the need to take public transport more, conserve water and electricity, and eat locally. They mentioned they needed to use air conditioners less, but many said that would be hard given Taiwan's hot summers.

Most also worried about future sea level rise, increasing pollution and hotter temperatures. “My mom tells me that when the winter comes, some of the days will be as hot as summer, I think this is a kind of global warming,” KCIS student Ray said. 

Data released on Wednesday (June 5) found that 2023 were the hottest 12 months on record, with scientists warning that the worst was yet to come. Meanwhile, a 2023 study from National Taiwan University found that more than 90% of Taiwanese surveyed reported that climate change had impacted their lives.

The students interviewed said they learned about climate change at school and had been taught about melting polar ice caps, sea level rise, and natural disasters. Some students also learned about conserving water, eating locally, and climate changes effect on Taiwan. 

Taiwanese students are educated about climate change as part of the national 12-year curriculum, Ministry of Education division head Huang Ching-yi (黃瀞儀) told Taiwan News in an email. “Climate education begins in the upper grades of elementary schools to explore how biodiversity, human action, and changes in human’s behavior will cause or delay climate change,” Huang said.

She said this involves interdisciplinary courses that encourage students to understand that climate change is global, and that slowing it requires mitigation and adaptation. Huang said climate change has been listed as a “topic of importance” in the curriculum.

The curriculum is designed to help students understand environmental crises and challenges to human survival and development. Huang said it aims to build awareness of the causes and impacts of climate change in daily life, and to encourage students to practice environmental protection.

Taiwan faces significant sustainability challenges: A 2023 report by think tank Ember listed Taiwan as one of the 11 highest CO2 emitters per capita globally. Taiwan relies heavily on fossil fuel imports to power its economy, though in 2022 published a roadmap to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

The plan targets energy production, industry, “social transition,” technological development, and new legislation. It involves US$30 billion (NT$968.9 billion) in related investments, and wind and solar power projects have already been rolled out, working toward the goal of 20% renewable energy by 2030.

KCIS student Andre said he thinks his generation will be “very important” in the future fight against climate change. “If we don’t solve the problem, the world is gonna disappear,” he said, adding he is worried people in the future would blame them if they failed to act.

Meanwhile, Kelly, an elementary student in New Taipei, said that she feels she learns enough about climate change at school. “It’s already too scary,” she said. She added she would like to learn about how to improve things in the future.

Michael, the overheated KCIS student, said he was generally more worried about the here and now than climate change. “Maybe I’m more worried about my tests than climate change,” he said.

“So long as Taiwan doesn’t become an island underwater, I’m not worried," Michael said.

However, Michael also connected climate change in Taiwan with cultural preservation. He noted that all but one of Taiwan’s 16 Indigenous groups have their ancestral homes in the mountains, and said he was worried that climate change may make those areas uninhabitable, affecting their culture.

All of the students interviewed said they knew climate change was a human made problem, and none said they had met anyone who thought it was not real. “I feel like people who don’t think climate change is real, it’s because they don’t want to face the problem, they’re in denial,” Michael’s classmate Liz said.

Classmate Rachel thought maybe some people who deny climate change is real are just trying to stay positive. “But actually that doesn’t work, we should stay positive and also find a solution” she said.