The future of Europe was the main topic of the Congress. André Martinuzzi and Katharina Rogenhofer agreed very quickly that, in general, people are noticing the consequences of the climate crisis. Martinuzzi: "There have been five major extinctions of species on earth during the last 4 million years, and the sixth one is happening now. The earlier ones have been comets, the current one is caused by mankind." and "How can we adapt our behavior so that we don't destroy our own livelihood?" Companies are playing a big role in this game - in a sustainable orientation of their core business, sensibly supported by political framework conditions. The goal is to establish a circular economy and reduce resource consumption and energy consumption. Says Martinuzzi: "We need to find forums where we can discuss the rules of the game, and then we have to get companies to act according to those rules."

However, it was also about political responsibility and political participation: People need to be invited to participate again. Says Rogenhofer, "It's important to play responsibility back to politics." The role of politics here is to create programs and laws, the rules of the game that is, that promote climate-friendly behavior.

The conversation concluded with participant questions.

The recording of the conversation can be found here. Unfortunately, the video is currently only available in German. You can read the Article in "Die Presse" here.