During a decisive phase for climate policy, the network of climate researchers in Austria, the Climate Change Centre Austria (CCCA), elected a new board yesterday.
Among other things, the board has made it its mission to continue providing scientifically sound advice to policymakers and society — together with the large pool of experts from the network's members — on questions of assessing climate impacts, shaping climate policy, and developing measures for climate protection and climate change adaptation. This is particularly relevant given the current situation of rapidly advancing climate change alongside the simultaneous COVID-19 pandemic.
"The extreme drought this year is a clear signal that climate change is advancing relentlessly. It therefore goes without saying that state measures to stimulate economic output following the coronavirus crisis must simultaneously serve to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and support adaptation to climate change," said the new CCCA chair, climate scientist em. Univ. Prof. Dr. Helga Kromp-Kolb.
Austria's resilience must also be strengthened, as "the COVID-19 pandemic makes visible, among other things, the vulnerability and systemic risks of global economic structures — risks that are equally to be expected in the context of global ecological crises such as the climate crisis," said polymer scientist Univ. Prof. Dr. Reinhold Lang, head of institute at the Johannes Kepler University Linz and CCCA board member.
The coronavirus crisis and how it has been managed so far has shown how essential it is to take action in a timely manner, and that drastic measures, when clearly communicated and understood, can also gain broad acceptance among the public. This must now be translated to the climate crisis.
Clear guidance and swift action are urgently needed: climate protection measures must, as set out in the government programme, lead to net-zero emissions by 2040. "The funds now being mobilised for the economic restart offer the government a great and unique opportunity to carry out the necessary changes for climate protection as well: investments in building renovation and renewable energy, public transport, and industrial resource efficiency will create thousands of jobs. If this opportunity is squandered, there will be a lack of financial resources and political energy over the next 5 to 10 years for the necessary transformation of society," said em. Univ. Prof. Dr. Nebojša Nakićenović, former Deputy Director of IIASA and CCCA board member.
During this decisive phase, the researchers collaborating within the network are offering decision-makers at all levels and across all sectors their scientific expertise — and with it, evidence-based support for decision-making processes — both for identifying and assessing measures and for developing criteria that measures must meet if they are to contribute to the transformation of society. Expertise spanning the natural sciences, engineering, social sciences, economics, and the humanities has been pooled within the CCCA for years. It is the particular strength of the CCCA network to bring together scientific knowledge from the various disciplines relevant to overcoming the climate crisis and to make consolidated, well-supported findings available to decision-makers.
