A current nowcasting for 2019 shows that Austrian greenhouse gas emissions are rising again compared to 2018. Climate research, environmental organisations, and climate activists are calling for swift political action.
The National Energy and Climate Plan (NEKP), put out for review on 4 November, is not suited to enabling the transition to a near greenhouse gas emissions-free and climate-resilient economy and society in line with the Paris climate targets. Fundamental improvements are needed — climate science, GLOBAL 2000, WWF, Klimavolksbegehren, and Fridays For Future are all in agreement on this.
On this occasion, the representative of science on the National Climate Protection Committee (NKK) and initiator of the Ref-NEKP (Gottfried Kirchengast, University of Graz), along with leading representatives of environmental organisations (Johannes Wahlmüller, GLOBAL 2000; Hanna Simons, WWF Austria) and climate action movements (Katharina Rogenhofer, Klimavolksbegehren; Johannes Stangl, Fridays For Future), spoke out today at a press conference in Vienna about the acute climate protection paralysis in Austria.
Over seventy experts in climate and transformation research have, over the past six months, developed a reference plan as the basis for a scientifically sound National Energy and Climate Plan for Austria (Ref-NEKP) that is in line with the Paris climate targets. This was publicly presented in September 2019 and submitted to the National Climate Protection Committee (NKK).
The central aim was to support the improvements in the official NEKP for Austria that are critically necessary by the end of 2019 for the success of climate protection from 2021 to 2030. While the Ref-NEKP and NKK statements from the scientific community have broadly and positively contributed to information and opinion-forming in Austria as a factual basis — and helped pave the way for coalition negotiations to begin, in which resolving the climate protection paralysis is also on the agenda — the aforementioned central aim was almost entirely missed: the fingerprint in the current NEKP is marginal.
Invitation to the press conference (press release 7.11.2019)
Press release for the press conference (press kit 12.11.2019)
Presentation slides for the press conference
Further information and info documents on the NKK statement and the annexes can also be found at www.wegcenter.at/downloads November 2019: Knowledge Transfer/Politics and Media!
Additional information for the press conference:
- Statement by the representative of science on the NKK - Gottfried Kirchengast (12.11.2019) (pdf 265 kB)
- Annex file monitoring & nowcasting of Austrian GHG emissions up to 2019 (v5-12Nov2019) (pdf 272 kB)
- Annex file key slides - Where does Austria stand in relation to the Paris climate targets? (12.11.2019) (pdf 448 kB)
- Central annex Reference Energy and Climate Plan of Science (Ref-NEKP)
- Annex S4F statement with 24 climate facts and references / journal article (en, de) (pdf 358 kB)
Press reactions:
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Plus two per cent: greenhouse gases rising again in 2019 (kurier.at, 12.11.2019)
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Scientists: climate plan crosses red line of political irresponsibility (derstandard.at, 12.11.2019)
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Scientists and NGOs criticise "flawed energy plan" (diepresse.com, 12.11.2019)
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"Climate protection paralysis" in Austria decried (science.orf.at, 12.11.2019)
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Climate plan under fire — scientists and NGOs decry "climate protection paralysis" in Austria (kleinezeitung.at, 12.11.2019)
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"Red line crossed" — climate expert tears apart Bierlein's climate plan (kleinezeitung.at, 12.11.2019)
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Climate protection paralysis in Austria (oekonews.at, 13.11.2019)
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Sharp criticism of climate plan (neue.at, 12.11.2019)
