Climate Protection Index: Austria remains in 32nd place – Austria

This came during the World Climate Change Conference held in Dubai (COP28). Austria remains in 32nd place in the index, between Colombia and Latvia, and ranks 14th in the European Union comparison.

Austrian Environment Minister Leonor Gevsler (Green Party) commented on Austria’s placement in the rankings and emphasized that progress had been made on climate protection in alliance with the ÖVP, although the challenge could not be resolved in a few years. She expressed satisfaction that Austria showed positive development in 2022.

Greenpeace calls on the coalition to pass a climate protection law and legislate to stop oil and gas production in Austria. The Global 2000 report noted that Austria ranks 51st in the “Energy Consumption” category, indicating that energy consumption is very high compared to international standards. WWF spokesman Thomas Zehtner noted that although Austria has made progress in some areas, there is still much work to be done to become a credible leader.

Niklas Hone of the New Climate Institute warned that even former leaders such as Denmark appear to be far from the Paris climate targets. In the current Climate Protection Index, no country received a “good” score in the “climate policy” sub-assessment. As in previous years, the top three positions remained empty. Denmark returns to fourth place, while the United Arab Emirates, Iran and Saudi Arabia are close behind. Germany moved up two places to 14th place, but still received only moderate ratings in the categories of greenhouse gas emissions, renewable energy, energy use and climate policy.

The report sees a glimmer of hope in a global boom in renewable energies, batteries, heat pumps and electric mobility. It is emphasized that renewable energy sources must continue to grow significantly to replace fossil fuels.

The report’s authors hope that the global climate conference in Dubai will provide the impetus for needed climate protection. Negotiators from nearly 200 countries must make binding decisions to triple renewable energy capacity and double energy efficiency by 2030. The global exit from fossil fuels is a crucial sticking point that will define the second week of negotiations. The conference is officially scheduled to end on December 12, although it could be extended.