Climate Plan Should Be Completed Soon

On Tuesday, ahead of a meeting of EU environment ministers in Brussels, Gewessler expressed hope to be able to "report news on this matter very soon", in response to a question about Austria's climate plan. Austria should have already submitted the final National Energy and Climate Plan to the EU Commission in June and is therefore already subject to an EU infringement procedure.

Draft for Climate Plan Withdrawn After Government Dispute

The reason for the delay was a dispute within the government coalition of ÖVP and Greens, which was primarily publicly carried out by Gewessler and Europe Minister Karoline Edtstadler (ÖVP). This led to the draft for the NEKP - which should have arrived in Brussels in June 2023 - only being submitted this August. A draft previously submitted by Gewessler was withdrawn by Edtstadler, on the grounds that it had not been agreed with the government. The Climate Minister disagreed with this.

Half of EU Members Behind Schedule on Climate Plan

The EU Commission quickly reviewed the Austrian draft. With regard to the final plan, the government in Vienna must explain in more detail how it plans to achieve the planned reduction of greenhouse gases by 48 percent by 2030 (compared to 2005 emissions), the Commission ruled in October. It also wanted further explanations on how Austria intends to strengthen its energy security, "especially through diversifying its energy supply, including by reducing energy imports from Russian fossil fuels and those from other third countries, as well as further promoting the reduction of gas demand". It should also be explained how much CO2 can be stored each year until 2030. As of November, almost half of the EU member states had not yet submitted their final plan.

(APA/Red)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.