After a long struggle: Gewessler presents climate plan
After a lengthy dispute with coalition partner ÖVP, Climate Minister Leonore Gewessler (Greens) presented the final version of the National Energy and Climate Plan (NEKP) on Tuesday. Among other things, it includes the abolition of environmentally harmful subsidies. However, a working group will first need to be set up to implement this point, said Constitutional Affairs Minister Karoline Edtstadler (ÖVP).
In the NEKP, Austria sets out how it intends to meet the legally binding EU climate target by 2030. By that year, greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced by 46 to 48 per cent compared to 2005 levels, as stipulated by the relevant legislation. Austria will achieve this target through the implementation of the NEKP, said Gewessler.
The plan was originally supposed to be submitted to Brussels by the end of June. Austria is the last EU member state to have an outstanding submission. A draft transmitted to the European Commission in autumn by Gewessler's ministry had been withdrawn by Constitutional Affairs Minister Edtstadler. Edtstadler justified her decision by stating that the draft had not been coordinated with the other ministries. Read more at orf.at.
Under the headline "Diesel privilege gone, more hydrogen instead: What the new climate plan includes", derstandard.at reports.
You can find the reference plan as the basis for a scientifically sound National Energy and Climate Plan for Austria that is in line with the Paris climate targets (Ref-NEKP) here.
As part of the project "National Energy and Climate Plan (NEKP) for Austria – Scientific Assessment of the Measures Proposed in the 2023 Consultation", a team from the broader scientific community coordinated by the Climate Change Centre Austria (CCCA) undertook an assessment of the measures proposed during the public consultation on the NEKP.
