1.2 Vienna’s resource consumption and emissions
Typically, only those greenhouse gas emissions are recorded that actually occur within a city’s territorial boundaries - for example through transport or space heating. These are known as production-based emissions. Many of the environmental impacts associated with our lifestyles, however, do not occur within the city but along entire production and supply chains - for example during raw-material extraction, manufacturing or the transport of goods.
The consumption-based perspective therefore complements the production-based view and takes into account the total resource use and the greenhouse gas emissions triggered by consumption within the city - regardless of where they arise. Only by considering production- and consumption-based perspectives together can we obtain a realistic picture of the actual environmental impacts of our lifestyles and economic activity. Otherwise, there is a risk of so-called displacement effects: environmental and climate impacts that arise outside the city boundaries but are caused by consumption within the city boundaries.
Determining consumption-based indicators (such as greenhouse gas emissions or the material footprint) at the regional level - for federal provinces and cities - poses a major challenge, as a robust regional data basis is often lacking (for example, imports and exports of goods across city boundaries are not recorded). However, Vienna requires a solid data basis in order to derive well-founded and equitable environmental policy measures. To this end, the City records its material footprint and its consumption-based greenhouse gas emissions.
Vienna’s material footprint
Vienna’s material footprint is an indicator of the global material consumption triggered by consumption in the city. The construction of infrastructure as well as the goods, products, food and services consumed require material resources that are often extracted from global supply chains. All materials consumed to meet Vienna’s demand are captured in the material footprint.
As early as 2022, the City of Vienna set itself the target of reducing the per-capita material footprint by 50 per cent by 2050 (Smart Climate City Strategy Vienna). In 2019, Vienna’s absolute material footprint ranged between 20 and 32 million tonnes; this corresponds to 10 to 17 tonnes per capita per year. This is roughly half the Austrian average (23.6 tonnes per capita per year) and broadly in line with the European average (15 tonnes per capita per year).
The significantly lower per-capita resource consumption in Vienna compared with the rest of the country is due in part to the fact that cities use resources far more efficiently owing to their high population density. This applies in particular to land, material-intensive infrastructure, housing and means of transport.
Vienna’s consumption-based greenhouse gas emissions
The extraction of raw materials as well as the manufacture and transport of goods generate greenhouse gas emissions. Most of these emissions do not occur in Vienna but in the countries where materials are produced and processed. Transport to Vienna likewise generates emissions. Further emissions arise during use, maintenance and repair, and during dismantling and disposal. These are referred to as consumption-based emissions.
In 2019, Vienna’s consumption-based greenhouse gas emissions amounted to around 24.2 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents, or 12.7 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per capita. By comparison, production-based greenhouse gas emissions within the city area amounted to 8.75 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents, or 4.6 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per capita in 2019. Owing to the demand for products and services - most of which arise in production and industrial processes outside the city area - Vienna therefore causes roughly three times as many greenhouse gas emissions as are emitted within the city area (Figure 4).
A large share of consumption-based greenhouse gas emissions is caused by the demand for consumer goods (29 per cent plus 4 per cent). A second major share is attributable to food, which is demanded by private households (9 per cent) and by private and public service providers. The third major share lies in the construction sector. Here, 13 per cent of emissions are caused by private construction projects alone, with a further 9 per cent caused, among other things, by public construction projects (see Figure 5). Mobility (14 per cent) and the energy demand of private households (9 per cent) are the focus of the production-based perspective.
A broader view of Vienna’s emissions
With its goal of climate neutrality by 2040, Vienna has set itself the ambitious target of reducing production-based greenhouse gas emissions (such as those from local production, the operation of power plants, mobility, space heating or waste incineration) to net zero. These emissions can be directly influenced by the City of Vienna, private households and companies.
Furthermore, it is important to take a broader view and, in the medium term, to design measures in such a way that they contribute to reducing the material footprint and consumption-based greenhouse gas emissions. If demand declines and the behaviour of people in Vienna in terms of processing, use and disposal changes, this can have a positive effect on the consumption-based share of greenhouse gas emissions as well as on negative environmental impacts. In addition, with the help of the circular economy, measures can often be designed in such a way that they reduce both production-based and consumption-based emissions.
