How climate-friendly can we live in Austria? And what are the transformation paths towards climate-friendly living? These questions are answered by the new APCC (Austrian Panel on Climate Change) Special Report "Structures for Climate-Friendly Living", which was presented this week by Climate Protection Minister Leonore Gewessler and Labour and Economic Affairs Minister Martin Kocher.
The report, commissioned by the Climate and Energy Fund and funded by the Climate Protection Ministry, was prepared by more than 80 renowned scientists from various disciplines, reviewed by more than 180 experts and accompanied by an extensive stakeholder process. Klaus Kubeczko and Matthias Weber from the Center for Innovation Systems & Policy are also part of the authors team.
It is currently difficult to live in a climate-friendly way in Austria - this is the conclusion of the Special Report of the Austrian Panel on Climate Change (APCC), which contains more than 700 pages. In order to make climate-friendly living attractive, permanently possible and a matter of course, far-reaching and often structural changes are needed in all areas of life. According to the authors, the existing framework conditions often promote climate-damaging behaviour and make climate-friendly living more difficult. As concrete examples, they cite, among other things, the design of municipal taxes that favour the settlement of businesses and shopping centres at town and city entrances, thus triggering high levels of additional car traffic.
The core message of the report is that the design of structures is central to an effective climate policy. Coordinated and targeted action at the political, economic and social levels is therefore called for.