Climate back from 2026: New laws have to disclose climate effects!

Climate back from 2026: New laws have to disclose climate effects!

From January 1, 2026, every new federal law in Austria will be subjected to a climate back. This step was decided on June 16, 2025 in parliament and serves to deter the early detection and avoidance of climate -damaging effects of laws and regulations. The initiative is a response to the climate protection petition of 2020, which received over 380,000 signatures and underlines the urgent desire for more responsibility in climate protection. The climate back is part of the existing Follow -up assessment (WFA) .

The climate background requires that in addition to the traditional economic aspects, the effects on greenhouse gas emissions and the adaptation to climate change will also be taken into account in the future. Ministeries are obliged to analyze the ecological consequences of their legislative proposals in order to create a transparent basis for environmental initiatives, media and the public. However, the result of the climate check is not binding, which means that negative climate effects do not automatically lead to revision or stop the project.

Setup of service points

To support the new procedure, a service point is set up in the Climate Protection Ministry that provides a digital "climate deck tool". This service point will work in cooperation with the Federal Environment Agency and other ministries. Despite the introduction of the climate check, there are concerns: Sigrid Stagl, a climate economist, emphasizes that more commitment in dealing with measures that have negative climate effects is required.

Julia Herr, the deputy club chairwoman and climate spokeswoman of the SPÖ, underlines the need to take into account the climate in all projects. The climate check is intended to ensure that climatic protection plays a central role in legislation and is not only regarded as a parallel consideration.

long -term climate goals

The legal framework in relation to climate protection is not new, but are based on international agreements such as the 1992 climate framework convention and the 1997 Kyoto protocol. These contracts defined obligations to reduce greenhouse gases. Paris' Convention is currently aiming to keep the global temperature increase below 2 ° C, with efforts being made to limit the increase to 1.5 ° C. The climate goals should be renewed every five years in future national contributions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to document and adapt progress.

Developments in Austria are in line with these international efforts and attempts to create a national legal framework that can effectively support the climate goals. In addition to the new regulations on the Klimacheck, there are also new weapons laws that have been decided after the killing spree in Graz, which reflects the broader social discussion about security and environmental awareness.