Climate emergency in Austria: BJV demands new law for the future!

Climate emergency in Austria: BJV demands new law for the future!

Österreich - on today's World Environment Day, June 6, 2025, the Federal Youth Representation (BJV) pointed out the urgent need of a valid climate protection law in Austria. For over four years, such a law has been missing, which BJV perceives as alarming. The organization calls for a strong political commitment to climate justice and the quick implementation of an effective climate protection law.

The BJV chairman Anna Schwabegger pointed out that the priority of the climate protection measures in the recent savings in the government's double budget has evaporated. Such measures are urgently needed to meet the appeals, especially with regard to the forecast report, which predicts in 2024 as the warmest year since the start of the measurement and predicts an increase in extreme weather events.

participation of young people demands increased attention

Lejla Visnjic, another BJV chairman, calls not only a comprehensive climate protection law, but also the recognition of this obligation as a responsibility towards future generations. The BJV therefore emphasizes the importance of binding youth participation in the development and implementation of the Climate Protection Act.

In order to express this concern, the BJV organizes a climate youth council in parliament from October 6th to 8th, 2025. During this event, young people should be given the opportunity to formulate their own claims and to directly add politicians from all parliamentary parties.

climate justice as cross -generational concerns

Another milestone in youth participation is the Coordination office in climate issues set up on September 1, 2023. The focus is on an open exchange in which over 30 youth associations and organizations are currently actively participating without a fixed upper limit for participation.

The participation takes place via self -organized working groups on specific topics, where positions are developed and receivables papers are formulated for discussions with the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection (BMWK). Such initiatives are essential to anchor the votes of youth in political discourse.

Future -oriented goals are also borne by international agreements such as the Convention of Paris in 2016. The aim of limiting the global temperature increase to 2 degrees Celsius, whereby effort is made to reduce this limit to 1.5 degrees. For Austria, the goal is to reduce emissions by 48 percent compared to 2005 by 2030.

In the context of climate change, Austrian policies have already taken various measures to counteract the growing risk through extreme weather conditions and temperature increases. A holistic approach that includes both climate protection and adaptation strategies will continue to be pursued by the Austrian authorities. The BJV demands that these measures will be raised to a higher political level as soon as possible in order to meet the challenges of the future.