In space-time: Katharina Rogenhofer – radiokulturhaus.ORF.at

In Time: Katharina Rogenhofer

“If nothing changes, everything changes” – How do we fight for our planet? Johannes Kaup in conversation with author and climate activist.

The climate crisis is not a phenomenon that will one day be overcome because it is not a conventional crisis. It is becoming an increasingly climatic emergency that threatens the very foundation of life on our planet and will keep us and future generations on edge in the twenty-first century. The accumulation of extreme weather events in recent years alone – from massive wildfires, floods, periods of heat and drought – shows just how threatening life can be here too. In the past 20 years, the number of natural disasters has doubled to 7,248 compared to before. Climate regions are shifting towards the polar regions due to global warming. If the climate warms by 2.6 to 4.8 degrees Celsius – depending on the scenario – by the end of the century, a belt two thousand kilometers north and south of the equator will become an uninhabitable zone with catastrophic consequences for up to three billion people. .

So we must act now! It is not about adaptation that can be managed with green technologies. A turning point cannot be achieved with small carbon dioxide reductions alone. What we need is a radical shift in our economy and way of life in order to achieve climate change. A global Green New Deal is needed. In the early 1960s, President John F. Kennedy already said about the ambitious program to deliver a person to the Moon and safely return to Earth within a decade: “We chose the road to the Moon not because it was easy, but because it is heavy.” It will be difficult at least to reform the economy, politics and society in such a way that all people can enjoy a life that is socially just, ecologically compatible and economically secure.

What is Green New Deal visual software? Which areas – from investments to energy supply, the economy, work, housing and mobility, as well as laws and taxes – play an important role and in what way? What are the costs of necessary transformation compared to the costs of doing nothing or doing little? How do we escape the “blame game,” the accusation of individuals and political institutions and the “circle of responsibility,” in which “others” are always asked to take action? Which forms of climate action help and which divide society? How can civil society advance with courage and leadership in the process of transformation and at the same time motivate the general community to do so?

Kathryn Rogenhofer Born in Vienna in 1994. She studied Biology with an emphasis in Zoology at the University of Vienna, as well as Sustainability and Environmental Management at Oxford. In 2018, together with other climate activists, she brought the Fridays for the Future movement to Austria. From 2019 to 2022 she was the spokeswoman for the climate referendum, which resulted in a successful application in the Austrian Parliament with 380,590 signatures. She is a member of the advisory board for the Science Council of the Vienna Climate Council. Winner of the Austrian Prize of the Year 2021 in the Climate Initiative category. Her book “If nothing changes, everything changes. Why do we have to fight for our planet now” was published by Zsolnay Verlag in 2021.