Climate summit in Vienna: Schwarzenegger and stars fight for sustainability

Climate summit in Vienna: Schwarzenegger and stars fight for sustainability

On June 3, 2025, the ninth “Austrian World Summit” will take place in the Vienna Hofburg under the motto “Unite in Action”. Host Arnold Schwarzenegger has invited prominent speakers and guests, including Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen and Federal Chancellor Christian Stocker (ÖVP). The conference will focus on using climate frontline forces, such as firefighters and Interpol investigators, to shed light on climate challenges. 5min.at reports on the diversity of participants, which also includes UN Secretary General António Guterres, EU Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra, tennis star Dominic Thiem and BBC presenter Laura Kuenssberg.

Even before the summit, Schwarzenegger spoke on Tuesday at 6 a.m. in the vehicles and stops of the Wiener Linien. He thanked the passengers for their contribution to a healthy planet and praised them as “true climate heroes” for using public transport. Wiener Linien emphasized that every public transport journey and every kilometer cycled contributes to the mobility transition, which is of great importance in the context of climate protection. Kurier.at highlights that such initiatives are important to raise awareness of environmentally friendly mobility.

Climate change as a global challenge

Climate change represents one of the greatest challenges of our time and requires international solutions and cooperation. According to that Federal Environment Agency International climate policy focuses on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and developing effective adaptation strategies to the unavoidable consequences of climate change. The overarching goals are to prevent dangerous disruption of the climate system and to limit global warming to well below 2 °C, and if possible to 1.5 °C compared to pre-industrial levels.

The need to significantly reduce global greenhouse gas emissions is emphasized by many experts. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's sixth assessment report (2023) calls for a reduction of 43% by 2030 and 60% by 2035 compared to 2019. In order to achieve the desired climate goals, the peak of global greenhouse gas emissions must be reached between 2020 and 2025. Without immediate and ambitious efforts, warming is expected to reach 3.2°C by 2100, which would have devastating consequences.

The summit in Vienna will provide a platform to address these issues and bring together those responsible for international climate policy. Schwarzenegger will meet with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair this morning for a discussion that could potentially provide important impetus for global climate protection.