Austrian parliament declares ‘climate emergency’ just four days ahead of polls
- In Sunday’s polls, Sebastian Kurz’s People’s Party is expected to be the strongest again, while the Greens are tipped to make the biggest gains
Austria’s parliament on Wednesday decided to declare a “climate emergency”, making fighting climate change a priority, just four days ahead of national elections.
The environment is the top concern for voters in Sunday’s snap polls in the small Alpine nation of 8.8 million people, according to surveys.
Amid a rash of other voter-friendly measures, MPs from all parties except the far-right Freedom Party (FPOe) supported the resolution for the largely symbolic measure, already adopted by many other national parliaments and cities.
FPOe lawmaker Walter Rauch dismissed the declaration as an attempt to create “climate hysteria far removed from any reality”.
All parties – including the FPOe which ruled the country as junior coalition partner to then chancellor Sebastian Kurz until a corruption scandal in May – have taken up the promise to protect the environment in their campaigns.