Climate protection in Austria: Court of Auditors warns of missing goals!

Climate protection in Austria: Court of Auditors warns of missing goals!

Current alarm stitch in climate protection in Austria! In its latest report, the Court of Auditors made it clear that the government has significant deficits in the urgently needed climate protection measures. Of twenty previous recommendations by the examiners, more than half, specifically ten, were not implemented by the Ministry of Climate and Finance. There were only positive reactions in two points, while in eight cases it was only insufficiently traded, as the Volksblatt . The permanent absence of a climate protection law and the slow implementation of the national energy and climate plans bring the next steps for Austria's climate goals in a serious danger and threaten to miss the EU greenhouse gas targets.

endangered climate goals and late measures

The greenhouse gas emissions have been reduced in the non-emission trade area, but the forecasts for the coming years are dark. A lower decline in total emissions is expected for 2024 and 2025. In view of this situation, the Court of Auditors unequivocally find that the existing climate protection measures are not sufficient in order to achieve the EU's statutory reduction targets by 2030. In addition, it is pointed out that Austria is currently threatening a breach of contract due to the late submission of the national energy and climate plans after the plan has been submitted for a total of 14 months too late. The factual decision of a final plan in the Council of Ministers this December is too late to fix the problems mentioned.

The Bundeschrungshof also emphasized that it is time to initiate fundamental changes in the cooperation between the federal and state governments. An effective monitoring system and clear voting processes are essential to concretize responsibility for climate protection measures. In addition, the Court of Auditors urgently calls for a stronger ecologization of tax law and a fair distribution of costs, especially when it comes to buying emission certificates.