Since 2005, Austria’s greenhouse gas emissions have fallen by 26 percent. But how much of this reduction can be attributed to political measures? Researchers from the Department of Economics at WU set out to answer this question.

In a new paper published in the renowned journal Scientific Data, Talis Tebecis and Jesús Crespo Cuaresma looked at the development of emissions in all OECD countries, comparing the emission levels with each country’s gross domestic product and demographic development. “If you remove these two main influencing factors from the calculations, you are left with fluctuations that are most likely due to climate policy,” says Tebecis. “These statistical outliers can often be linked to specific policy measures. Our dataset can therefore serve as a basis for checking the effectiveness of climate measures,” Tebecis explains.

The researchers identified a total of 62 of these statistical outliers for Austria. “Compared to the other EU countries, that’s actually not a whole lot – for Germany, for example, we found 131 outliers, and for Ireland, as many as 261,” says Talis Tebecis. After peaking at 79 million tons, Austrian emissions have fallen by around 20 million tons to date. The data collected by the researchers suggest that 6.1 million tons – about a quarter of the total emission reductions – can be attributed to political climate protection measures.

Metal industry tops the emission savings table

Talis Tebecis and Jesús Crespo Cuaresma also took a closer look at the Austrian economy to identify the sectors where greenhouse gas emissions have fallen the most. They found that the metal industry accounts for the most significant reduction in average emissions. Regulatory measures on the national and European levels have apparently had a noticeable effect in this traditionally very emissions-intensive sector (with around 12 million tons of CO₂ generated per year, the Voestalpine Group, a major steel company, is Austria’s largest single emitter).

Significant savings can also be seen in biomass and waste incineration plants. “This is a sign that the regulatory push towards sustainable biomass production and the high efficiency standards in this area are yielding tangible effects,” says Talis Tebecis. The Austrian electronics industry has also achieved significant emission cuts. In contrast, the researchers only found minor reductions in power and heat generation, wastewater treatment, and manure management.

For Jesús Crespo Cuaresma, chair of WU Vienna’s Department of Economics, this data set is an important further piece of the puzzle in climate policy research. “In the quest for the best strategies, we often see that the devil is in the details. That’s why we carried out our analyses at such a high level of detail, looking at 37 different sectors and including all major greenhouse gases, not just CO₂,” Crespo Cuaresma points out.

The data the two WU researchers have put together can be used to make similar calculations for all OECD countries. “We hope that our data will help leaders make empirically based climate policy decisions,” says Crespo Cuaresma.

Detailed study results and further information

Tebecis, T., & Crespo Cuaresma, J. (2025). A dataset of structural breaks in greenhouse gas emissions for climate policy evaluation. Scientific data, 12, Article 42.

Link to the study

This study was created as part of the eXplore! initiative, which aims build bridges between scientific theories and business practice, based on research findings. This funding initiative was established in 2021 by the B&C Private Foundation and Michael Tojner in cooperation with WU Vienna.