Conservative Austrian government commits to climate action targets

Austria’s ruling coalition of the conservative ÖVP and right-wing FPÖ presented its programme until 2022. The parties pledge to stay on course to abolish nuclear energy and coal and also commit to e-mobility.

From 2030 all energy in Austria shall come from renewable sources and that is just one of the targets the new Austrian government set out in a 182 page document that despite its length lacks clarification in various points.
Still, it sees the conservatives stay on track with climate action aims set by their predecessors and also a reenforced general commitment to stay within the European Union.

In terms of electric transport, the programme states the “expansion of charging infrastructure and practical facilitation for e-mobility,” but is otherwise scarce in detail. E-mobility is listed with in the sector energy, not in transport, where the programme mentions autonomous driving and rail transport.

Reception of the programme in Austria has been moderate and while the energy sector welcomed the targets in essence, it also saw a lack of clarification. The next four years will have to show where Austria is going to go.

kurier.at  (reactions in German), oevp.at (programme in short, pdf)