Regarding the ongoing government negotiations, Greenpeace warns against returning to the past and subordinating the climate and environmental protection agenda to the Ministry of Agriculture. A current analysis by the environmental protection organization shows the negative effects of such a division of departments on climate protection and biodiversity. From 2000 to 2019, when environmental agendas were integrated into the Ministry of Agriculture, climate action stood still for almost 20 years. Biodiversity in Austria also suffered severe losses during this period. Greenpeace is calling on chief negotiators Karl Nehammer, Andreas Babler and Beate Meinl-Reisinger to ensure a strong and independent climate and environment ministry.
Greenpeace spokesman Sebastian Theissing-Matei: “Making climate and environmental protection a sidecar of the Ministry of Agriculture was a big mistake in the past. The result was negligent climate policy and unprecedented bird deaths. The new government must clearly reject this outdated approach and instead effectively protect us and our livelihoods.”
Greenpeace analyzed Austria’s climate and environmental protection policy from the year 2000 to the present using two exemplary indicators. The greenhouse gas balance was used for climate protection and the Farmland Bird Index was used for species protection. In the almost two decades from 2000 to 2019, under the responsibility of the then responsible ÖVP agriculture ministers, climate-damaging emissions were only reduced by around one percent. And this despite the fact that EU-wide emissions have already been reduced by a fifth in the same period. Only when there was an independent and strong climate ministry from 2020 onwards were emissions quickly reduced in Austria. Species protection also suffered from the incorrect division of departments. Between 2005 and 2014, the bird population in Austria fell by around 36 percent. The background was agricultural policy decisions without consideration for nature. The bird population later stabilized at a low level.
Chancellor Karl Nehammer has already publicly announced that he would like to break down the current Climate and Environment Ministry into its components. The fact that climate and environmental protection are currently being negotiated in a main group together with agricultural issues is also an alarm signal for Greenpeace. Theissing file: “When it comes to our future and our livelihoods, there can be no regression to the past. ÖVP, SPÖ and NEOS must guarantee a strong, independent climate and environment ministry.”
The two renowned scientists, Helga Kromp-Kolb (Scientist of the Year 2005) and Franz Essl (Scientist of the Year 2022), have already called for this in a joint broadcast with Greenpeace in October: https://act.gp/PresseaussendungGreenpeace
The analysis in detail can be found at: https://act.gp/Analyse
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