The Austrian World Summit is a climate conference which takes places annually in Vienna since 2017. It aims at connecting stakeholders from politics, civil society and business to create a broad alliance for

climate protection Climate change mitigation is action to limit climate change by reducing emissions of greenhouse gases or removing those gases from the atmosphere. The recent rise in global average temperature is mostly caused by emissions from fossil fuels b ...

. It is organised by the Schwarzenegger Climate Initiative and took place at the

Hofburg The Hofburg is the former principal imperial palace of the Habsburg dynasty. Located in the centre of Vienna, it was built in the 13th century and expanded several times afterwards. It also served as the imperial winter residence, as Schönbrunn ...

palace and the Spanish Riding School in the past.

Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, film producer, businessman, retired professional bodybuilder and politician who served as the 38th governor of California between 2003 and 2011. ''Time'' ...

was the initiator of the conference and he organises it together with Monika Langthaler. The summit takes place under the patronage of Austrian president Alexander Van der Bellen.

Concept

The conference wants to contribute to achieving a full implementation of the

Paris Agreement The Paris Agreement (french: Accord de Paris), often referred to as the Paris Accords or the Paris Climate Accords, is an international treaty on climate change. Adopted in 2015, the agreement covers climate change mitigation, Climate change a ...

and the

Sustainable Development Goals The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) or Global Goals are a collection of 17 interlinked objectives designed to serve as a "shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future".United Nations (2017) R ...

as well as networking of politics, business and finances with the United Nations, NGOs, regions and cities. In comparison to other climate conferences, the Austrian World Summit is not mainly a diplomatic conference but aims at showcasing concrete examples and possible actions for a sustainable future. Since its inception in 2017, the Austrian World Summit has become one of the most prominent climate conferences worldwide. In fact, it was the largest climate conference in 2020 since similar events had to be cancelled due to the Covid-19 outbreak. Among the speakers and participants of the conference so far were

António Guterres António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres ( , ; born 30 April 1949) is a Portuguese politician and diplomat. Since 2017, he has served as secretary-general of the United Nations, the ninth person to hold this title. A member of the Portuguese Socia ...

, Greta Thunberg,

Patricia Espinosa Cantellano Patricia Espinosa Cantellano (born October 21, 1958) is a Mexican diplomat who served as the executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change from 2016 to 2022. She was Secretary of Foreign Affairs in the cabinet ...

, Li Yong,

Maria Neira María P. Neira (born 1962) is a Spanish physician, international civil servant and diplomat, who has since 2005, served as the Director of the Public Health, Environment and Social Determinants of Health Department (PHE) of the World Health O ...

, Kristalina Georgieva and Scott Joseph Kelly. The most recent summit took place on 1 July, 2021 under the motto “Healthy Planet – Healthy People” with well-known speakers like Lisa Jackson (Sustainability Manager at Apple), Greta Thunberg (Climate activist) or Jane Goodall (Scientist). Since the Covid-19 pandemic, the AWS has taken place in hybrid mode. Each year, more than 1,000 people participate physically and millions of viewers watch the livestream online or on TV. A speech by Austrian chancellor Sebastian Kurz in 2018 was criticized by the activist group ''System Change, not Climate Change'' due to the Austrian government's lack of climate policies. The group staged a protest at the summit and took over the microphone during Kurz's speech. In 2019 and 2020, the summit was accompanied by a festival for the public, a Climate Kirtag, which is supposed to raise awareness for climate issues among the public in Vienna. The first edition featured concerts by Hubert von Goisern and Conchita Wurst. The next Austrian World Summit is going to take place on 14 June, 2022 – exactly 30 years after the “Earth Summit” in Rio de Janeiro. The environmental activist Severn Cullis-Suzuki who gave an inflammatory speech in Rio de Janeiro is expected. Other well-known speakers and guests include Joko Winterscheidt (German entertainer), Luisa Neubauer (Climate activist), Matt Iseman (US moderator).

Legacy

In 2019, the conference won the

European Culture Award Taurus European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine European cuisine co ...

for extraordinary contributions to European culture. In 2020, the Austrian World Summit took place in September with 340 participants. It was the biggest climate conference to take place that year because of the cancellation of all major climate conferences due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

References

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External links

Official website
Political conferences Events in Vienna Climate change policy Climate change in Austria