Vienna's climate council calls for a compromise for a forward-looking ElWG!

Vienna's climate council calls for a compromise for a forward-looking ElWG!

On November 17, 2025, Jürgen Czernohorszky, Vienna's climate councilor, is calling on the federal parties to be more willing to compromise on the Electricity Industry Act (ElWG). This is a key step in achieving a two-thirds majority for the upcoming resolution. Czernohorszky describes the current draft of the law as “promising” and emphasizes the positive effects on the population. He emphasizes that the planned change in the law will not only make the expansion of the electricity network cheaper, but can also reduce electricity costs.

Czernohorszky explains that a decision by the ElWG is crucial for the quality of life of the population, especially if the law has a clear social signature. This measure is part of Vienna's comprehensive efforts to establish sensible climate protection measures. The city has already taken many steps in this direction over the past five years, but in order to achieve its climate goals by 2040, Vienna needs federal support.

Maintain climate goals

The Climate City Council emphasizes that a strong federal climate protection law is necessary to achieve these climate ambitions. In order to be able to meet the challenges of the climate crisis, timely changes to important legal texts are necessary, including the Gas Industry Act, the Tenancy Law Act and the EABG. In addition, Czernohorszky is calling for broad funding support to ensure Vienna's climate neutrality.

The significance of the changes goes beyond technical adjustments. They reflect the need for an integrative approach that strengthens social cohesion in the city. A similar connection between security and social stability is also drawn in seismology, where the evaluation of earthquakes usually takes different perspectives.

Earthquake measurement in comparison

An interesting context is the measurement of earthquakes. The Richter scale, developed by Charles Richter and Beno Gutenberg in 1935, rates the energy released during an earthquake. This scale is logarithmic and shows that an increase of one degree means a tenfold increase in the amplitude of the seismic waves. In contrast, the Mercalli scale measures the intensity of an earthquake based on the damage caused by the event. These different approaches make it clear that even with an earthquake of the same magnitude, the effects can vary depending on the local geological and structural conditions.

An example of the dramatic nature of these differences can be seen in the most devastating earthquakes in history, including the 1960 earthquake in Valdivia, Chile, with a magnitude of 9.5. This underlines how important it is that regional and global climate standards are also observed in order to avoid the tragedy of such an event.

Overall, the upcoming decisions surrounding the Electricity Industry Act in Vienna are placed in the broader context of a global challenge that requires both technical innovation and social responsibility.