Major levers in climate change adaptation in Austria (A-LEVERS)

Climate change already causes numerous risks for nature and society, which will intensify with increasing warming. Decision-makers from the EU to the federal, state and local governments have therefore developed comprehensive adaptation strategies and plans over the past almost 20 years to reduce these risks. In view of the large number of adaptation measures (for example, 136 measures are included in the national adaptation strategy in Austria), the question arises as to which measures or bundles of measures should be prioritized for implementation because they are particularly effective (effective and fast in reducing risk) and feasible (financially, institutionally, in terms of the natural environment, etc.) and therefore have the greatest lever. It is important to make the best possible use of windows of opportunity, such as budget cycles or planning processes, and to plan for lead times accordingly. Furthermore, questions regarding the best timely sequencing of measures arise as well as when a measure becomes ineffective or infeasible (adaptation limit) and should therefore be replaced by other, more transformative measures.

Adaptation research has proliferated in the last decade, providing extensive scientific evidence on a wide range of measures. Nevertheless, many research results are too generic to be directly applicable to the very concrete questions of decision makers relating to "what", "when" and "how". Therefore, the aim of the project A-LEVERS is to build bridges between science and practice and to support decision makers in Austria to implement climate change adaptation in the best possible way and to avoid maladaptation.

In A-LEVERS, existing knowledge on climate change impacts and risks is evaluated and the key risks for Austria are derived. For the identified key risks, adaptation measures and bundles are prioritized, based on the available scientific synthesis on effectiveness and feasibility. For three representative regions (Retzer Land, StadtLandSee Bruck/Kapfenberg/Tragöß/St. Lorenzen, city of Linz) adaptation pathways with a time sequence of adaptation measures and bundles will be developed. In a final step, these adaptation pathways will be transferred to other Austrian regions, a hands-on guidance will be developed and policy recommendations will be derived.

Methodology

The methodologically innovative contribution lies in the combination of a systematic synthesis of the available literature with a continuous expert dialogue between science and practice. The concrete results of the project are expected to be: 1) so-called burning ember diagrams to illustrate the key risks for Austria and thereby support the 2nd Austrian Assessment Report of the APCC, 2) a selection of prioritized adaptation measures and bundles for the key risks, 3) concrete adaptation pathways for three representative adaptation regions in Austria, 4) a guidance for the application of the developed concept for other regions in Austria and beyond. In the sense of a co-creation of knowledge, a strong cooperation with the KLAR! regions as well as with the Association of Cities and Municipalities is planned.

IIASA Role

IIASA leads a working package that assesses adaptation options and combinations. The methodology to prioritize specific measures builds on the participatory method developed within the recently completed ACRP project “pathways” for identifying measures across levels of governance and for different time scales. Based on a stocktaking of available evidence for Austria, the working package will assess the effectiveness and feasibility of different adaptation options and bundle them for the three archetype regions. For the generic adaptation bundles, boundary conditions will be identified, such as lead times, windows of opportunities, and path dependencies.

Partners and collaborating organizations

• University of Graz, Wegener Center for Climate and Global Change (lead)
• GeoSphereAustria
• IIASA

Funding

This project has received funding from the Climate and Energy Fund, represented by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) under grant agreement FO999901435 (ACRP Call from 1/2022).