To fulfill the global climate change mitigation target which was then set in Paris Agreement, the Greenhouse Gas Reduction and Management Act has been passed by the Taiwan congress in 2015 in which the national GHG emission reduction goal shall be to reduce GHG emissions to no more than 50% of 2005 GHG emission by 2050, and the carbon pricing policies were authorized to be applied to fossil fuel consumption. However, neither carbon tax/fee nor cap-trade were initiated since then. The process of imaginary future generations (IFG) is to simulate scenarios that represent the future. After the participants have spent some time imagining the future, they are brought back to reality and asked to play the roles of representatives of future generations to give advice that will be beneficial for future generations.

In this research, an online survey was conducted at the end of 2021 and 1100 samples were collected. IFG was randomly applied to half of them. All participants then chose between 5 scenarios which consist of the features of 4 carbon tax schemes and 1 status quo feed-in-tariff (FIT) scheme. The results of Logit models and ordered Logit models reveal that IFG can not only increase participants’ acceptance of the carbon tax but also significantly activate their futurability. Of the four carbon tax schemes used as options in this research, scheme B (a carbon tax with reduced business tax rate, and lump-sum transfers) was the most popular among the respondents. The older the respondents are, the higher the chance that they will choose the carbon tax schemes. Furthermore, those who prefer to walk or ride a bike rather than drive a car or ride a scooter (that is, respondents who are more aware of environmental protection), will be more accepting of carbon tax, which aims to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions that cause air pollution. This research confirms that respondents who think that air pollution will be severe in their place of residence in the future are more supportive of the carbon tax. The level of respondents’ trust in the government also affects their choice of the non-rebate carbon tax scheme.