Even if all greenhouse gas emissions stopped at once, temperatures are predicted to continue rising due to the inertia of the climate system. As skiing tourism in the Austrian Alps is highly climate sensitive, higher temperature and changed precipitation patterns require increased artificial...

This paper develops a stochastic model to assess storm risk in Austria, which relates wind speed and actual losses. By virtue of a building-stock-value-weighted wind index, we use suitably normalised historical loss data of residential buildings over 12 years and corresponding wind speed data to...

EU climate and energy policy defines ambitious objectives for the EU member countries requiring a fundamental change of energy systems. This paper suggests basing the analysis of restructuring options on energy services instead of energy flows. In order to provide the energy services in a...

Having agreed upon a binding emissions reduction path by 2020, the EU plays a leading role in international climate policy. The EU currently pursues a dual approach through an Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) at the EU level and also via national targets in sectors not covered by the ETS. The...

This paper presents a case study about the perception of landslide risk. Following a major set of landslides in the eastern part of Austria in June 2009, we surveyed local experts, residents who had suffered losses from the landslides, and others living in the affected communities. Overall, the...

EU climate and energy policy defines ambitious objectives for the EU member countries requiring a fundamental change of energy systems. This paper suggests basing the analysis of restructuring options on energy services instead of energy flows. In order to provide the energy services in a...