Austrian Panel on Climate Change (APCC)

An in-depth assessment has been completed of the effects of climate change on Austria.  Its results will support future mitigation and adaptation strategies.  

Industrial landscape

Industrial landscape

Overview 

The Austrian Panel on Climate Change (APCC) has conducted a comprehensive assessment to document and integrate current scientific knowledge of climate change and its anticipated impacts on Austria.

Among the achievements of the report, which was published in 2014, are:  

  • Increased robustness of scientific data through integration the findings of different research approaches and methods.
  • Development of data that can better inform societal decision making on climate change issues.
  • Provision of policy-relevant technical support for strategies developed to respond to climate change, and work on responses with the European Union and other international organizations.
  • Identification of knowledge gaps that can be addressed by future research.
  • Building of an active network of Austrian research institutions, individual scientists, policymakers, and other stakeholders  to carry work on climate change forward. 

Background and Motivation

The APCC report was published in 2014, after the release of the IPCC Working Group III 5th Assessment Report. Its goal was to provide policy-relevant analysis and capacity-enhancing guidance to the Austrian government, decision-support material to the Austrian private sector (energy service companies, investors and others), and analysis relevant to academic institutions.

The IPCC assessment reports currently represent a widely accepted and reliable basis for policymaking. However, the large-scale IPCC analyses are unable to take account of i) the local, sub-scale geographical and topographical characteristics that contribute considerably to the shaping of the local climatic situation or ii) societal and economic triggers and responses to climate change that are influenced by a region's social and cultural environment. 

Moreover, Austrian climate research is characterized by a high diversity of perspectives, approaches, and localized scientific expertise. As there were no structures or procedures that allowed for the integration and consolidation of these rich knowledge sources, overall expertise was not easily accessible to decision makers.  

To support Austrian climate change policymakers, new frameworks were designed to allow compilation of a consolidated knowledge base on climate change implications for Austria. The APCC project both defined and set up the procedures and framework  within which the scientific national climate research report will be developed and implemented. Scientific and stakeholder meetings and external reviews were an integral part of the process.  

IIASA’s role was primarily to organize the external review process of the assessment and to ensure its scientific quality, transparency, and comprehensiveness. IIASA’s long experience with climate change studies and modeling was used to select both expert reviewers and review editors for the final report.


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Last edited: 28 March 2014

CONTACT DETAILS

Keywan Riahi

Program Director and Principal Research Scholar Energy, Climate, and Environment Program

Principal Research Scholar Integrated Assessment and Climate Change Research Group - Energy, Climate, and Environment Program

Principal Research Scholar Pollution Management Research Group - Energy, Climate, and Environment Program

Principal Research Scholar Sustainable Service Systems Research Group - Energy, Climate, and Environment Program

Presentation of the Austrian Climate Report

Timeframe

01.07.2011 - 15.07.2014

International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)
Schlossplatz 1, A-2361 Laxenburg, Austria
Phone: (+43 2236) 807 0 Fax:(+43 2236) 71 313