Austria’s government on Friday announced it would enshrine a target to reach climate neutrality by 2040 into law, as a record drought scorches Europe.
The Alpine nation has experienced its driest 12 months ever recorded, according to its weather service, hitting agriculture hard.
While deciding on an aid package for farmers, the conservative-led coalition government also agreed on passing a climate protection law, finance minister Markus Marterbauer said.
“We reaffirm that the goal is climate neutrality by 2040, enshrined in law,” he told a press conference, adding that a draft bill should be circulated “very soon”.
He added that the government would present a roadmap by the end of next year with “concrete measures” to achieve the goal.
The EU has a target of climate neutrality — being an economy with net-zero greenhouse gas emissions — by 2050.
Climate and conservation groups welcomed Friday’s announcement, but warned that the goal needed to apply to all sectors and be binding.
“Without clear guidelines, climate neutrality by 2040 remains an empty promise without effect,” conservation group WWF Austria said in a statement.
Temperatures this summer reached an all-time record high of 41.2C earlier this month, as much of Europe sweltered under a succession of heatwaves.
Scientific experts say that human-made climate change has made extreme weather events more intense and more frequent, and Europe has become the globe’s fastest-warming continent.