Green demands

“Headwind instead of tailwind” for climate protection

Landlord Bairhuber with the Provincial Councillors for the Environment Haider-Wallner and Kaineder (from left) on the roof of Energy3000 in Müllendorf.(Bild: Landesmedienservice/Siess)

Environment Minister Anja Haider-Wallner from the Green Party is calling on the federal government to continue investing in climate protection. An independent law is to be introduced in Burgenland this year.

The climate bonus will be abolished; the VAT exemption for photovoltaic systems will be dropped; subsidies for clean heating will be cut. "With the Greens in the federal government, more progress has been made in the past five years than in the 20 years before that," says Haider-Wallner, Deputy Governor of Burgenland. "Now the climate ministry is being dismantled." Savings are being made in the wrong place. "While climate protection appears to be of secondary importance, billions are being invested in the expansion of freeways."

The "bureaucracy monster" is brought to life
Haider-Wallner, supported by her departmental colleague from Upper Austria, Stefan Kaineder, also a Green state councillor for the environment, addresses a joint demand to the new government. "The federal government must continue to invest in climate protection, otherwise we will not be able to achieve the targets! We need a tailwind. Instead, we are facing a headwind." According to Kaineder, the abolition of VAT on PV systems was a bureaucratic monster at the time. "Now it's being brought back to life."

"The slump will definitely come"
Michael Bairhuber, Managing Director at photovoltaic wholesaler Energy3000 in Müllendorf (district of Eisenstadt-Umgebung), fears that many companies will now have to hire staff to help customers through the expected jungle of subsidies. "In plain language, this means that everything will now be 20 percent more expensive. We haven't felt a slump yet. But it will definitely come."

Haider-Wallner wants to present an independent climate protection law for Burgenland in the first half of 2025. The mandatory use of photovoltaics for larger new commercial buildings and for new, covered commercial parking spaces is a fixed requirement. A socially graduated subsidy is planned for private households.