State artists and the climate alliance warn against senseless consumption of land in Austria

On the occasion of World Soil Day on December 5th, “We State Artists” Robert Palfrader, Florian Scheuba and Thomas Maurer as well as the Austrian Climate Alliance are drawing attention to the devastating consequences of senseless sealing. “A lot of things in Austria are completely stupid. The fact that the permanent, ever-increasing sealing leads to Austria literally becoming bottomless is particularly stupid,” warn the cabaret artists in a statement.

Wörthersee sealed every year
Land consumption in Austria has reached dramatic proportions: every year around 20 km² of soil – an area the size of Lake Wörthersee – is sealed by asphalt, concrete and buildings. This destruction has massive consequences: sealed areas can neither store nor cool water, contribute to floods and droughts and are lost to agricultural use.

“It takes 100 years to produce one centimeter of humus. Every square meter lost is a threat to our future,” warns Leonhard Hartinger, project manager for soil protection in the Climate Alliance. What is particularly worrying is that Austria would already need four times its available arable land to be self-sufficient in food.

Municipal financing as an area trap
Hartinger sees an important reason for the land consumption in municipal financing: “In the counterproductive competition for local taxes, many local councils tend to give their nod to land-consuming projects, as the income might otherwise go to the neighboring municipality.”

According to Hartinger, a turnaround is therefore necessary: ​​“Before we continue to exploit our valuable arable land, we should make use of the enormous industrial and commercial wasteland. According to estimates, these are around ten thousand hectares, roughly equivalent to the area of ​​the city of Linz.”

Solutions are on the table
More than 200 soil alliance communities in Austria are demonstrating solutions for prevention and repairs in a wide variety of projects. Over 50 municipalities in Austria are already relying on unsealing in order to adapt their settlement areas to the challenges of climate change. Exposed areas can store water, mitigate heavy precipitation and cool on hot summer days.

“It is particularly disappointing that the protection of our beautiful homeland Austria and the security and independence of our regional food are simply emphasized by many political representatives. That certainly doesn’t correspond to the wishes of the general public,” agree Elke Kastner and Norbert Rainer, managing directors of the Austrian Climate and Soil Alliance. “Where positive economic development is also possible, are brownfields that already have roads, water and canals, and the Internet “We think that a new government will also take this into account with clear legal regulations and a reform of the financial equalization.”