City councilor Mantl calls for specific climate protection and solutions for Vienna!

City councilor Mantl calls for specific climate protection and solutions for Vienna!

As part of the meeting of the Vienna municipal council on April 11, 2025, municipal council Josef Mantl, the environmental spokesman for the Vienna People's Party, presented his views on the subject of climate protection. Mantl called for concrete measures and criticized ideological allocations that can be found in the climate protection debate frequently. Instead, the Vienna People's Party relies on urban climate protection through practical solutions to position Vienna as a pioneer in this area.

A central topic in Mantl's statement was the controversial lobaut tunnel, which is supposed to contribute to the relief of traffic in Vienna. It is planned to run the heavy traffic from the city, in particular to relieve the Danube city. Mantl sees a blockade of the project an unreasonable burden for the residents. The construction costs for the praise tunnel are estimated at 1.5 billion euros, while a contribution of almost 2 billion euros is also expected to have gross domestic product. In addition, around 17,600 jobs could be created by the project, of which 9,200 would be located in Vienna.

Environmental amounts and alternatives

The lobautunnel is not only the focus of political discussions, but also on the testing of environmental aspects. According to a report by the Federal Environment Agency, which was created in cooperation with the Vienna University of Vienna and the TU Graz, the strategic environmental examination recommends that the project stop. The report, which was published on February 5, 2025, documents that the construction of the Lobau Autobahn would have negative effects on nature and the traffic situation in Vienna. In particular, 62 hectares of fertile soils would be destroyed and greenhouse gas emissions further increased.

Environmental organizations such as Greenpeace have made it clear that alternative traffic solutions, the costs of which are estimated at 400 million euros, would be much more environmentally friendly. The negative ecological consequences of the Lobau motorway, which was identified as the most environmentally harmful option, could be averted with a review of the traffic strategy in Vienna.

Mobility of the future

The mobility data in Vienna draw a positive picture of the current traffic situation. An annual survey of the Viennese lines shows that almost three quarters of the paths (74%) are covered with the environmental association, consisting of public transport, on foot and by bike. This proportion rose from 63% in 2000 to 74% in 2023. The cycling share even reached a double -digit range in 2023.

The Vienna city government plans to advance the expansion of public transport and parking management in order to further reduce the proportion of motorized private transport. The goal of the Smart Klima City Strategy is ambitious and provides to increase the proportion of non-fossil cars to 100% by 2030.