Key research programmes relevant to climate and energy – including ACRP, StartClim and ACRPI – as well as important implementation agendas are still lacking essential funding commitments for 2025. These are funds from the Climate and Energy Fund, whose release for the current year remains outstanding even as the year draws to a close – an irresponsible situation at a time when Austria urgently needs both scientific and implementation-oriented expertise, as well as swift and decisive action on climate. The continued blocking of these funds is putting climate research and climate impact research under enormous pressure, driving away young and experienced, highly qualified researchers, whilst simultaneously weakening Austria's capacity to act in an already acute and escalating crisis.
"Climate research and climate impact research go far beyond the generation of new knowledge. They provide the foundation for sound political decisions, for administrative processes, and for action in business and society," stresses Univ.-Prof. Harald Rieder (BOKU, CCCA Chair). "Further delays mean that Austria is losing valuable expertise in a crisis that has long since become a matter of national security."
Project stoppages are already occurring, existing research teams are under threat, and urgently needed specialist expertise is leaving the country. Austria now faces the risk of serious setbacks in its capacity to respond and its credibility in the areas of climate protection, climate change adaptation, and the necessary transformation of its economy and society…
