The ÖVP chancellor is “playing down” the climate crisis, the SPÖ is “disoriented” and the FPÖ doesn’t want to know anything about climate protection anyway. Reinhard Steurer, professor of climate policy at the Vienna University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, is tough on politicians. On the other hand, he defends the tacky actions of climate activists.
Due to the government’s failure, there is currently no indication that climate neutrality can be achieved by 2040. This had “turned from a promise into a fairy tale,” Steurer said in the Ö1 “Morgenjournal” on Friday.
Laws on hold
Because to meet the goal of phasing out oil and gas in 17 years at the latest, you need much more than the laws presented by the turquoise-green coalition, but whose implementation is completely open: renewable heat – Act to accelerate the replacement of heating appliances and the Energy Efficiency Act. They must be decided by a two-thirds majority. That is currently not in sight – the SPÖ or the FPÖ would have to agree with the governing parties.
There is still no climate protection law that sets new, clear targets. It is therefore better not to talk about climate neutrality in 2040 at all, says Steurer: “Otherwise politicians will make themselves ridiculous”.
“Even without a climate policy you’re fine”
The scientist sees political-tactical reasons why climate protection is not considered desirable and Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) does not want to know anything about “falling scenarios”: “Of course the ÖVP sees that the FPÖ is growing strongly in the polls. The FPÖ wants to know even less about climate policy than the ÖVP. It is therefore clear that no climate policy can do well in the polls and possibly win the next election,” said Reinhard Steurer on ORF radio.
The SPÖ, on the other hand, is “completely disoriented”, says the climate policy expert, who is also a member of the “Scientists for Future”. “There’s not much willingness there to decide on matters that require a two-thirds majority.”
Criticism of “blockade attitude”
This is the signal from the opposition that climate policy is not desirable at the moment. “It’s going through the polls because people are tired of the crisis and want to live very normally after the pandemic and of course have more acute problems, such as high inflation,” Steurer analyzes. The climate reality, which the parties refused to accept, is becoming “drastic by the day”.
The researcher sees not only a government failure, but a major social failure. “Once we have to change our behavior, whether it’s slowing down on the highway or adjusting the heating, we don’t want to hear about it anymore.”
Sticking actions as a wake-up call
He sees only one way: to get the message across that not everything that is happening now in terms of weather and climate change is normal. “Now, in this decade, we have the ability to prevent the worst.” Steurer therefore also supports the Austrian glue campaigns of climate activists. The protest was uncomfortable, but an effective wake-up call, Steurer said. For him a ‘fire alarm in a burning world’.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
