The IPCC Synthesis Report published today brings together the current state of knowledge on climate change, its impacts, and the necessary adaptation and mitigation measures in a single document. It is based on the individual IPCC reports from the past three years and serves as a reference work that decision-makers around the world will rely on in the years ahead.

Global developments and challenges are significant for what happens and what actions are taken in Austria — not only with regard to climate change itself, the rapidly increasing risks, partly irreversible changes and extreme events, but also concerning Austria's economy, which is closely linked to other regions of the world through global supply chains. All areas of social life are affected.

We're all in the same boat

Global warming continues to advance with all its impacts largely unchecked. The consequences of human-caused climate change are becoming more noticeable year by year in Austria as well. 2022 was the second warmest year in Austria's recorded history, with temperatures 2.3 °C above the long-term average. Many people, especially older and ill individuals, are already suffering today from increasingly intense heatwaves. The intensity and frequency of extreme weather events and storms is rising, droughts are becoming more frequent, glaciers are melting and disappearing, ski resorts are losing their snow — and with it their financial basis — and this is happening in Austria too. Lakes and rivers are drying up, threatening our drinking water supply and our energy supply, which relies heavily on hydropower. Climate change is felt at the global, national and regional level, and it must be addressed at all levels.

Read the press release here!