Only when we know for how much of greenhouse gas emissions we are responsible for emitted in other countries, we can comprehensively act in good governance.
The production of commodities, food or energy usually causes greenhouse gas emissions, which the most relevant greenhouse gas being CO2. The balancing methods for greenhouse gas emissions, which caused in the course of commodities production within Austria, are already internationally standardized, especially as a follow up to the Kyoto Protocol. However, a relevant share of commodities that are consumed in Austria were produced in other countries. The Austrian CO2 footprint therefore considerably increases because of imports and international supply chains – these outsourced CO2 emissions in traditional greenhouse gas accounts were often ignored.
Taking these outsourced CO2 emissions into account, and at the same time subtracting the emissions caused within Austria for export production, reveals the following: the net emission level of Austria is almost 50% higher than the one accounted for in official statistics (that are based on emissions within the territory of the country). In international comparison this is a relatively high value. The INNOVATE project investigates possible strategies for policy and for consumers how to address this situation. This transdisciplinary project is based on stakeholder interaction.