Key Indicators of Climate Change and the Energy Sector in 2019. Special Topic: Climate Mitigation, Resource Management and the Concept of the Circular Economy

Real economic output (+3 percent) and gross domestic energy consumption (+2 percent) developed similarly in 2017, but a relative decoupling was achieved between the development of energy consumption and economic output. By contrast, the increase in greenhouse gas emissions (+3.3 percent) exceeded economic growth. This means a solidification of the emission intensity of the Austrian economy. The downward trend initiated in 2005 could therefore not be resumed. This was due to the increase in emissions in the emissions trading sector (+5.2 percent), in particular of industrial CO2 emissions (+4.8 percent), but emissions also increased in the energy supply (+6 percent) and in the transport sectors (+3.2 percent). In a special topic, this report deals with resource intensity and the potential contribution of a circular economy to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.