Scorecard Summary:
Fulfilment of Rio Conference Commitment - Red
Current Government Position on Climate Change - Green
Per Capita CO2 Emissions - Green (7.29 metric tons per person in 1992)
National CO2 Emissions - Green (56 million metric tons in 1992)
OVERALL ASSESSMENT:
Committed to strong action, but is not yet
doing enough and
needs to be more active at the international level.
NATIONAL CLIMATE PROTECTION GOAL:
Austria has formally adopted
the "Toronto
target" of reducing national CO2 emissions by 20 percent by 2005. In his
speech
at the Climate Convention's Second Conference of the Parties, Austria's
Environment Minister envisaged 25-30 percent cuts in national CO2
emissions by
2010 and 40 percent reductions in 2020 as being cost effective and beneficial
for competitiveness.
SPECIFIC FEATURES:
Bordered by eight countries, four of which
have economies in
transition, obviously affects the development of extra policy measures.
Austria
is phasing out subsidies to domestic coal production but import of coal is
available on relatively favourable terms from eastern neighbours. CO2
accounted
for 78 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in 1990. The level of CO2
emissions
per capita is low compared to other OECD countries. Although hydropower has
been doubled since 1970, the potential for further expansion is limited for
environmental and hydrological reasons. Forest covers nearly half the
land area
and constitutes an increasingly important source of fuel for district heating
systems.
NEGATIVE FEATURES:
A complicated governance structure between
federal and
laender authorities and municipalities impedes policy implementation.
Although
Austria has ambitious policy goals, its emissions have risen in recent years.
However, it is still possible to return emissions to 1990 levels through
a very
high improvement rate in energy intensity (two percent annually with 2.5
to 3
percent economic growth). A considerable number of measures are still at the
planning or conceptual stages. The monopolistic structure of the nation's
power
sector remains a barrier to increasing energy efficiency. Transport
subsidies
provided to commuters do not encourage residents to live near their
places of
work, resulting in energy wasted on long commutes.
POSITIVE FEATURES:
26 percent of energy supply was met by
renewables in 1994,
evenly split between biomass and hydro. Austria has developed policy
scenarios
that show how it can meet the Toronto target. A carbon energy tax has been
discussed. Nuclear power is banned by law. Well over 100 cities and
almost all
provinces aim to halve their CO2 emissions by 2010. The tax system was
altered
in 1992 to encourage the purchase of more efficient cars. Combined heat and
power plants have been encouraged by a subsidy scheme since 1993.
Sources: Independent NGO Evaluations of National Plans for Climate
Change Mitigation.
Second review August 1994, Climate Action Network, Brussels; Report on the
in-depth review of the national communication of Austria, FCCC/IDR.1/AUT Dec
1996; Speech by Dr Martin Bartenstein, Federal Minister for the
Environment and
Youth Affairs, Geneva, 18 July 1996.