Research field: Urban Transformations Towards Sustainability: A Law and Governance Perspective

Consumption- and production-based greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Austria remain to be high. To reach the goal of the Paris Agreement and to limit “the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C” (UNFCCC 2015), mere technical and single sector solutions that aim only for a partial decarbonisation are not sufficient anymore. Instead, a deep decarbonisation of the Austrian society is needed, calling for an integrated societal transformation that entails all aspects of daily lives in Austria.

Under the guidance of Prof. Verena Madner a new research project funded by the Austrian Climate and Energy Fund has been launched at the Research Institute for Urban Management and Governance to address this challenge: The APCC Special Report 22 on Structural Conditions for Climate Friendly Living (available in German) assesses the available scientific research on Austria’s challenges and opportunities in reaching the goals of the Paris Agreement. It provides a stocktaking of the scientific discussion on societal transformations, deals with the range of transformation options across six major fields of action and identifies cross-cutting issues like governance, innovation or finance. Currently, more than 70 researchers conduct a literature review on effective design options. In collaboration with stakeholders the report identifies potentials, options and limits to achieve structural conditions that enable, generalize, and sustain climate friendly living within Austria.

You can find more information on the research project and current developments, as well as a complete list of project partners and participating authors here (available in German) and here.

Project Lead: Univ.Prof. Dr. Verena Madner (in cooperation with the Wegener Centre for Climate and Global Change of the University of Graz and the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna)

Funding: Austrian Climate and Energy Fund

Duration: 01.09.2020 - 31.08.2022