Weekly Briefing: Fight Against Climate Crisis
The Find out more about this week's developments. At the World Climate Conference in Sharm El-Sheik, Austria's President Alexander Van der Bellen advocates climate justice. The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency is also trying to counter the climate crisis at the COP27 summit with its knowledge of nuclear technology and nuclear energy. Read about the latest developments in diplomacy in Vienna and Austria.
Take five minutes to catch up on this week’s essential news! / Picture: © Wikimedia Commons / Filip Nohe [CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/deed.de)], modified and edited
COP27 and Climate Crisis
A significant increase in Austria's international climate financing budget is planned. The climate protection ministry will provide an additional 220 million euros by 2026, according to Austrian Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen at the UN World Climate Conference in Egypt.
The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency is also well-represented at the World Climate Change Conference in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. Between the energy crisis and climate targets, nuclear energy is regaining importance in several countries, and for the agency, the task is to convince.
Austria's Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen is going into the COP27 world climate conference with mixed feelings. Given the insufficient or inadequately implemented results of previous climate summits, optimism is "not easy - but necessary," said Alexander Van der Bellen at the conference venue in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.
The EU Commission's emergency regulation is intended to accelerate the expansion of additional energy capacities, with the draft also to be extended to other areas of energy infrastructure. The head of the Austrian Chamber of Commerce, Karlheinz Kopf, demands acceleration of the Energy Transition with faster approval procedures and eased bureaucracy.
Diplomacy in Vienna and the World
Governments of EU member states have used spyware against their citizens for political purposes, according to a draft report by the European Parliament's Committee of Inquiry (PEGA) published today in Brussels. European Union member states are widely using the controversial Pegasus spy software. Corresponding indications exist for Poland, Hungary, Greece, Cyprus and Spain, it said. There are also links to Austria.
On the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the United Nations Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists, the Austrian Foreign Ministry, together with the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, hosted the Vienna Conference on the Safety of Journalists. The conference, entitled "Safety of Journalists: Protecting media to protect democracy" was attended by more than 400 representatives of governments, international organizations, media and civil society.
Economic Developments and Business
Together with the GROWFORD Institute in Kyiv, the Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies has investigated how the Ukrainian government's reconstruction plan, presented in July, should be evaluated. How much will Ukraine's reconstruction cost and where will the money come from?
Since 2007, the Network of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Crafts, Agriculture and Economy of the New Alpe Adria (NAAN) has been working to deepen economic relations. It now comprises - with the new addition of Bolzano - ten chambers from Austria, Italy, Slovenia and Croatia. According to the Austrian Chamber of Commerce, with one million member businesses, NAAN is making rapid progress toward becoming an EU Alps-Adriatic macroregion. Read more to find out about the project.
Balkans
The UN Security Council has renewed the mandate of the EU-led stabilization mission EUFOR Althea in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Austria currently provides 167 soldiers and Major General Anton Wessely an Austrian is in command of the EUFOR force in Bosnia. In recent months, however, Moscow has expressed reservations about the EU mission.
Culture
Joyful, atmospheric Jewish klezmer music is at the heart of the KlezMORE Festival Vienna, which takes place in November from 5. – 20.11.2022 on a wide variety of Viennese venues. The lineup ranges from international acts of the klezmer scene to local pioneers of the genre.
The Viennese trade fair landscape has become colorful and diverse, not only in appearance but also in level. This includes ART&ANTIQUE HOFBURG Vienna, which is the most important annual showcase of the Austrian art trade. The fair for art, antiques and design takes place this year for the 53rd time.
What Else Happened This Week?
On the 84th anniversary of the November pogroms, representatives of the Republic commemorated the victims with a wreath-laying ceremony at the Shoah Name Wall Memorial in Ostarrichipark. In addition to Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen and the head of government, almost all members of the government took part.
According to the Austrian Integration Fund, the integration barometer on the coexistence of people with and without a migration background explains that 64 percent see the coexistence of Austrians and Ukrainians as positive and, as a survey on the Ukraine war, provides information on attitudes and moods toward the integration of Ukrainian displaced persons in Austria.