Schilling accused the Chamber of Commerce and Mahrer of continuing to lobby for fossil fuels and criticized the event as “greenwashing”.
“We are actually demanding a heat transition, and that means de facto that we have to get out of the fossils. We have to start now. I don’t want to wait another 30 years, I’m fed up with the ‘blah’,” Schilling said on stage, according to one Video shared by her on Twitter. Addressing the top representative of the local economy, she said: “Mr. Mahrer, you have a historical responsibility and you have not taken it up to now.”
after the climate protector left the stage, Mahrer criticized “the intolerance of a certain group not to accept different opinions”. Mahrer invited Schilling and her comrades-in-arms to stay and listen. “Tackling instead of sticking is the motto of this time,” said the WKÖ boss.
According to the press release, Mahrer said at the event itself that decarbonization would only succeed with different technologies. “Now it’s high time to ignite the turbo! We need courageous investments and a broad alliance of business, society and politics.”
In terms of content, the umbrella organization for renewable energy in Austria (EEÖ) saw the Chamber of Commerce event as “the first indications of opening up the Austrian Chamber of Commerce for the urgently needed heat transition”. “In the meantime, it seems that the federal government is also following the heat transition course in Wiedner Hauptstrasse,” stated the renewable energy interest group.
The Chamber of Commerce, which is dominated by ÖVP politicians, has long been criticized for slowing down climate protection measures. Mahrer called this year, among other things, to stop the introduction of the CO2 price and reduce the mineral oil tax.
In a 2021 study, the Institute for Advanced Studies (IHS) identified “driving and braking forces” why so few concrete measures are being taken in Austria in the fight against the climate crisis. The Economic Chamber, like the Federation of Austrian Industries (IV), tends to be seen as slowing things down.
Source: Nachrichten
