State Prize for Climate Change Adaptation: Vote for showcase projects from Lower Austria

The “CliA – Austrian State Prize for Climate Change Adaptation” will be awarded on October 16th. This year, the focus of this award, sponsored by the Ministry for Climate Protection and the Climate and Energy Fund, is on communities. Exemplary measures and projects are brought to the forefront and are intended to motivate people to imitate them later. The nominees have recently been announced. “I am pleased that almost half of the nominees come from Lower Austria. Proof of Lower Austria’s successful path to adapting to climate change, which includes a wide range of support for regions and communities,” said LH deputy Stephan Pernkopf. The numbers speak for themselves: “Since 2005, CO2 emissions have been reduced by over a third. At the same time, around 800 wind turbines and 120,000 photovoltaic systems contribute to generating around 40 percent of the renewable electricity in Austria,” says Pernkopf.

In category one – flood/heavy rain, the Bucklige Welt-Wechselland region is nominated with its heavy rain prevention measure by building small retention basins. In category two – drought, you can choose from the climate-friendly town center in Amstetten, the “green lung in the middle of the town” in Böheimkirchen or the “rainwater retention region” in Thayatal. In category three – heat, it is the sustainable biodiversity-promoting areas in Wiener Neudorf. You can vote for them until September 30th at www.staatspreis-adaptation.at/voting.

The State Prize was created to demonstrate the importance of adaptation as a second pillar of climate policy. In addition to climate protection, climate adaptation is already anchored in the “Lower Austria Climate and Energy Program 2030”. It is implemented, among other things, in the state’s water strategy, initiatives such as the promotion of climate-fit local centers or unsealing and sponge city projects through the Blue-Yellow Soil Bonus and in the climate change adaptation model regions, which now have 276 municipalities in Lower Austria. The Energy and Environment Agency Lower Austria is the coordinating body that makes the state’s wide range of support available to everyone with the “Klimafit Lower Austria” initiative: “We support regions and communities in Lower Austria with our know-how and tailor-made offers. We would therefore be very happy if the State Prize for Climate Change Adaptation went to Lower Austria and see it as an award for all active communities and regions,” says Managing Director Herbert Greisberger.

Further information: Energy and Environmental Agency of the State of Lower Austria, press spokesperson Mag. (FH) Christine Sitter-Penz, mobile +43 676 836 88 565, email: christine.sitter-penz@enu.at