17/11/2003 - The OECD has praised Austria's environmental performance, in particular the progress achieved towards its national environmental objectives and international commitments, such as clean air and drinking water, high sewerage connections and rates of recycling, and the reintroduction of salmon in the Danube. In its new report, the OECD also recommends that Austria steps up the efficiency of its environmental policies by integrating environmental concerns in sectors such as energy, transport, agriculture and forestry.
The OECD Environmental Performance Review of Austria, which makes 44 concrete recommendations to help improve the country's environment, will be launched at a news conference given by Josef Pröll, Austrian Minister for Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management, and Lorents Lorentsen, Environment Director of the OECD at 11.00 am on Wednesday 19 November at the Ministry for Agriculture, Forestry, Protection of Water Resources and the Environment, in Vienna 1, Stubenring Vienna.
Looking to the future, the report recommends that Austria:
Focusing on the past 10 years, the report recognizes Austria's major environmental achievements, including:
This publication is part of the OECD regular series of Environmental Performance Reviews of OECD member countries and makes extensive use of environmental indicators. The report reviews Austria's progress in the context of the OECD Environmental Strategy for the First Decade of the 21st Century, and in relation to its own policy objectives, as stated in domestic legislation or international agreements.
To attend the news conference, or for further information about the OECD's Environmental Performance Reviews, journalists are invited to contact Helen Fisher, OECD Media Relations Division (tel. [33] 1 45 24 80 97). Journalists can obtain the report from the Media Relations Division.
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