In a guest commentary, the head of the Momentum Institute, Barbara Blaha, argues for "change by design", not "by disaster".

Two crises are dominating our everyday lives and public debate: the Covid-19 pandemic and climate change. Measures to address both are as necessary as they are controversial. Can we afford all of this? Anyone who looks closely will spot parallel patterns of argumentation.

There can be no thriving economy on a dead planet, and no growth during a pandemic. Seems pretty obvious, really.

Photo: Imago/Müller-Stauffenberg

Take, for instance, the guest commentary by Sebastian Kurz in Time Magazine: while he denies "that we have to make a choice between securing the economy and the environment", he ultimately does exactly that. After all, one wouldn't make progress by "suddenly" changing the status quo. On the surface, climate protection is taken seriously, but ultimately he sides with the appeasers. Change, yes — but long-term, until 2040. Not if it changes our system. Not if it leads to greater centralisation.

Read more at: derstandard.at