Themenplattform "Nachhaltigkeit und Inklusivität"

The Austrian government strives for achieving greenhouse gas neutrality in the transport and the buildings sector by 2040. Achieving a complete decarbonisation within such a short time period will be challenging for both sectors: in the transport sector the trend of rising emissions must be reversed; in the building sector the building stock must be thermally improved and heating systems must completely shift towards renewable energy sources. The introduction of policy instruments to decarbonise the housing and mobility sectors will entail different effects for different household groups depending on several (socio-economic) aspects. The (presumed) regressivity of policy instruments (most notably fiscal measures) in these areas very often impedes an evidence-based discussion on the political level and is used as an argument against the implementation of respective measures. By linking a macroeconomic model with a vehicle choice model, a transport demand model and a building stock model, in TransFair-AT we will analyse policy scenarios achieving a full decarbonisation of housing and mobility in Austria by 2040. We will assess the emission impacts as well as the macroeconomic and distributional effects of policy sets on different household types and develop measures to compensate vulnerable groups ensuring that the disposable income of disadvantaged household groups is not reduced.

To solve the climate crisis, a fundamental decarbonisation of the economy is indispensable. In addition to technological changes, this requires accompanying climate policy measures, most importantly the taxation of carbon emissions. As this instrument leads to manifold indirect effects and uncertainties, FARECarbon employs a stakeholder-assisted multi model comparison of carbon taxation in Austria. It aims to reduce model uncertainties and to synthesise the debate on carbon taxes, and to develop a concerted proposal on how to implement carbon taxes in Austria.

To achieve climate neutrality in Austria the circular economy is of key importance, but synergies and trade-offs between decarbonisation and circular economy are poorly understood. CEDC implements scenarios into two linked models. The biophysical CE model traces all material flows from inputs to outputs. The macroeconomic model also incorporates rebound-effects. Thus, scenarios on recycling, life times, sharing, reuse and repair, infrastructure, etc. can be prudently assessed in terms of emissions, waste, resources, employment and value-added to reveal rewarding strategies.

Das Projekt schätzt die sektoralen und gesamtwirtschaftlichen Effekte angepasster Erwerbsarbeitszeiten in Österreich. Ausgangspunkt der Analyse ist ein (hypothetisches) Szenario, in dem mittels kollektivvertraglicher und betrieblicher Regelungen die Arbeitszeit der Beschäftigten so geändert wird, dass sie den individuellen Wünschen entspricht. Die Veränderung der sektoralen und gesamtwirtschaftlichen durchschnittlichen Arbeitszeit wird dabei aus Mikrodaten (Mikrozensus-Arbeitskräfteerhebung) unter der Annahme berechnet, dass alle Beschäftigten ihre Erwerbsarbeitszeit auf das präferierte Maß reduzieren bzw. erhöhen. Sie ist dann der Ausgangspunkt für die Abschätzung der sektoralen und gesamtwirtschaftlichen Effekte.

START2030 aims at providing comprehensive analyses of the economic incidence and social impacts of a transition to a 100 percent renewable electricity system by 2030. Policy scenarios will be analysed to depict the broad range of effects of this transformation. The analysis will deliver insights on the emission impact as well as on the macroeconomic and distributional effects of the transformation. Policy recommendations on how to mitigate detrimental effects on vulnerable groups will be derived.

Climate change is one of today's grand challenges. The EU has committed itself to ambitious emission reduction targets: for 2020 and 2030, the EU aims at reducing its greenhouse gas emissions compared to 1990 by 20 percent and 40 percent, respectively, for 2050 an emission reduction by at least 80 percent is strived for. For large emitters in industry and energy generation the EU has established the European Emission Trading System (EU ETS) in 2005 defining an EU-wide reduction target. Emissions from other sources, most notably from the household and transport sectors, are instead regulated at EU member countries level and should be reduced by 30 percent by 2030, with differentiated reduction targets for the individual EU member countries. To achieve the emission reduction targets in the Non-ETS sectors the issue of carbon pricing has recently gained in momentum in the political discussion at EU as well as at EU member countries level. The project SoMBI focuses on two research questions: What are the effects of an EU-wide carbon price for the Non-ETS sectors that allows achieving the 30 percent reduction target in different EU member countries? What are the effects of different revenue recycling options in the EU member countries? To answer these questions, we perform a model-based analysis with the new ADAGIO-DYNK model. The CO₂ price necessary to achieve the 30 percent EU-wide reduction target for the Non-ETS sectors is estimated. Also, detailed results for two case study countries are discussed. The countries (Austria and Poland) differ considerably in terms of the structure of their energy systems and economies. First, we focus on the macroeconomic, emission and distributional impacts of the tax. Then, the effects of different revenue recycling options are assessed and policy recommendations for the introduction of a carbon tax are developed.

Die vorliegende Untersuchung geht der Frage nach, wie resilient Biomasse-basierte Wertschöpfungsketten in Österreich sind und wie diese Resilienz gestärkt und verbessert werden kann. Um diese Frage zu beantworten, werden drei Ziele verfolgt: Erstens sollen Lehren aus der COVID-19-Krise gezogen werden, welche die Land- und Forstwirtschaft, die Lebensmittelwertschöpfungskette (einschließlich Gastronomie, Catering, Gemeinschaftsverpflegung) und den Forst- und Holzcluster in Österreich betreffen. Zweitens sollen Wissenslücken geschlossen werden, die bereits vor der COVID-19-Krise sichtbar waren und deren Dringlichkeit nun evident ist. Drittens werden Vorschläge für Maßnahmen entwickelt, die die Land-, Forst- und Ernährungswirtschaft widerstandsfähiger machen und zugleich die für die Transformation notwendigen Anpassungsprozesse unterstützen sollen. Die Ergebnisse sollen zum besseren wissenschaftlichen Verständnis der Auswirkungen einer Pandemie beitragen und in konkrete Handlungsempfehlungen münden.

Die Transformation der Wirtschaft in Richtung Klimaneutralität und Nachhaltigkeit hat weitreichende Folgewirkungen auf Gütermärkte, Arbeitsmärkte und das Leben der Menschen. Im Zuge des "Just-Transition"-Prozesses geht es darum, mit Beteiligten und Betroffenen soziale Auswirkungen von strukturellen Veränderungen auf betroffene Gruppen – Länder, Regionen, Industrien, Arbeitskräfte sowie Konsumenten und Konsumentinnen – zu identifizieren und auszuarbeiten wie dieser Prozess der Veränderung gerecht gestaltet werden kann. In dem vorliegenden Bericht werden wissenschaftliche Grundlagen für diesen Prozess erarbeitet. Die ökonomische Literatur mit Schwerpunkt Österreich wird im Hinblick auf die genannten Fragestellungen ausgewertet. Ergebnisse einer Input-Output-Analyse und eines Workshops, an dem Expertinnen und Experten aus Umwelt- und Arbeitsmarktpolitik teilnahmen, zeigen die sektorale Betroffenheit in ihrem regionalen Kontext. Auf diese Weise können Maßnahmen zur Gestaltung des "Just-Transition"-Prozesses evidenzbasiert entwickelt werden.

Our research aims at a continuous monitoring and evaluation of the green content of stimulus packages across the EU. To this end, we will in a first step gather information on the size and structure of the stimulus programmes implemented in the EU member countries. In a second step, we will categorise the measures into "green" policies, which may reduce long-run greenhouse gas emissions, "brown" policies, which may increase long-run net greenhouse gas emissions, and "colourless" ones, which work in neither of these directions. In addition, we will provide an assessment of the long-run multiplier effect (high, medium, or low) for the individual stimulus measures. Although such a rough categorisation of course does not allow a substantial impact evaluation, it will provide a first rough picture concerning the extent of "green" and "brown" content in EU member countries' stimulus packages as well as their expected long-run economic effects. We will carry out this ex ante evaluation based on publicly available information on EU member countries' stimulus packages. In a third step, the resulting quantification of the three categories allows a rough evaluation of the extent to which the economic stimulus packages support long-term structural change and climate goals and the extent to which they create medium to long-term fossil lock-ins on the one hand and long-term economic effects on the other hand.

Adapting to changes triggered by climate change is a major challenge especially for those sectors whose economic basis is the natural environment. In addition to the leisure industry, this includes agriculture. Although part of the production takes place under controlled conditions in greenhouses and in protected cultivation, the biggest share of agricultural output is produced under natural conditions, especially elementary food such as starch, oil, protein and field vegetables. In many parts of Austria, especially in the East, the increasing water shortage is a threat to agricultural production. In the study, different options for climate adaptation in plant production are discussed from an economic perspective. The focus of the work is on irrigation. In addition to a literature review, those elements are identified that need to be considered in a comprehensive assessment of large irrigation projects from an economic perspective.