The symposium at the Austrian Academy of Sciences aims to discuss the conditions and socially and technically feasible solutions for a gradual transition to a carbon-neutral energy system with focus on Austria. The scale of this challenge requires transnational cooperation - even from smaller countries like Austria. The symposium will address topics such as the current state from international and national viewpoints, a systemic analysis of possible pathways, and practical approaches to move towards reducing and eventually minimizing the carbon footprint. Lectures of leading industrial and institutional stakeholders and scientists will describe current approaches and scenarios, which will be discussed in two panel sessions.

November 10-11, 2025
Theatersaal, ÖAW & via Zoom
Dr. Ignaz Seipel-Platz 2
1010 Vienna

Program, Abstracts, CVs

Presentation slides

Myles Allen, Oxford University
Geological Net Zero: the only durable end to global warming

Richard Baker, Shell Scenarios
The 2025 Energy Security Scenarios – Energy and Artificial Intelligence

Christoph J. Brabec, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg
The current state of the Solar Revolution, Promises and Limits

Steve Evans, Cambridge University
Bringing hard-to-abate industry up to speed. Examples from Industrial Sustainability Cases

Daniel Huppmann, AAR2 Co-Chair, IIASA
The Second Austrian Assessment Report on Climate Change

Nebojsa Nakicenovic, IIASA
Overshoot Management as prerequisite for a safe and just future

Barbara Prainsack, DEE, ÖAW & University of Vienna
Towards a Just Transition in Europe – a perspective from the European Group on Ethics

Herwig Renner, TU Graz
Grids and their Limits

Karl Rose, TU Graz, Energie Steiermark
Economics of a Carbon Neutral Future

Johannes Schmidt, DEE ÖAW & BOKU Vienna
Reality Check: the current status of the transition to a climate neutral energy system in Austria

Sonja Wogrin, DEE, ÖAW & TU Graz
Flexibility as the key to the energy transition: storage, grid expansion, and a societal shift