“Corona effect”: 7.7 percent fewer greenhouse gases

According to the Federal Environment Agency, 73.7 million tons of greenhouse gases (GHG) were emitted in Austria last year, 7.7 percent less than in 2019. No reason for inaction, because “the crisis does not replace climate policy,” said Environment Minister Leonore Gewessler (Greens) on Friday when presenting the numbers.

The decrease of 6.2 million tons of CO2 equivalent shows the clear impact of the corona pandemic on the economy and mobility, which was forecast by the economic research institute as early as 2020. At 3.4 million tons, more than half of the decrease is found in the “transport” sector, which is normally referred to as a “problem child”, and there is a decrease of 14.3 percent compared to 2019. “We would not have had anything like that before kept possible “, commented Günther Lichtblau from the Federal Environment Agency on this decline, this shows that there would be measures that enable us to get down from the emissions.

The “corona effect” also had the effect that greenhouse gases outside emissions trading, which in addition to transport also include agriculture, waste and buildings, were reduced by around 1% in 2020 to around 46.6 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent .2 million tons were below the maximum amount of 47.8 million tons of CO2 equivalent provided for by the Climate Protection Act – and thus below the annual target value for the first time since 2016. According to the expert, reaching this target value was unclear before the occurrence of Corona.

“Corona effect will fizzle out in no time”

However, none of this is cause for joy for the environment minister: “The corona effect will fizzle out in no time,” warned Gewessler, and what will not fizzle out is the climate crisis, “it has long been here and this summer has shown what it can do . ” In addition, 2021 is already showing an increase in emissions from traffic again, Lichtblau pointed out: “Although there should still be dampening effects, we are already back at pre-crisis levels” – the comeback of the “problem child” has long since appeared to be a reality. In the Federal Environment Agency, rebound systems are assumed, for example in which goods are bought and empty spaces are refilled. “In addition, people have switched to private transport, partly because of safety concerns,” said the expert, describing a negative development as a result of the pandemic. Mobility will essentially be dominated by mobility again in 2021, with the still unpredictable further development of the pandemic being entirely decisive.

Environment Minister Gewessler made it clear, however, that the 2020 figures will of course not be used as a basis. The lower emissions in the field of energy generation in the previous year were cited as an example, partly because of the shutdown of Austria’s last coal-fired power plant in Mellach, which alone saved 800,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent. “That is exactly what our way must be: out of fossil fuels and into renewable energies,” said Gewessler, referring to the plan to only purchase this type of electricity by 2030 and to convert the heat supply in Austria to climate-friendly alternatives. According to the minister, Austria is still “racing to catch up” on the climate issue: “There is now one measure after the next”, such as the tax reform – for questions about details, however, the motto was still: “Please wait!”