Pledge 4 – Vienna

On 15 June, the Executive City Councillor for Climate, Environment, Democracy and Personnel, Jürgen Czernohorszky signed new pledge to the EU Pillar of Social Rights, respectively on principle 20 access to essential services. Vienna advocates that each region and city must have the freedom to decide as how to manage and deliver public services. Vienna commits to continue equal access to all essential services for all its citizens.

Vienna is committed to continue and step up its work for the promotion of access to essential services by investing in quality services:

• Water:
• Vienna was the first federal state in Austria to protect drinking water and its spring protection forests with a constitutional provision. The Vienna Water Charter permitted the security of the spring water as the basis of life for future generations.
• The construction of the third main water line leading to an improvement of the local and supra-regional security of water supply in Vienna
• Easy and free access to fresh Viennese spring water at 1100 drinking fountains and additional 25 mobile drinking water fountains in public spaces.

• Waste Water Management:
• The city of Vienna operates a sewer network with a length of 2.500 kilometers for its citizens. Half a billion litters of wastewater from 1.9 million people and 170.000 buildings are transported safely and environmentally friendly to the sewage treatment plant every day.
• 8 % of all households in Vienna are connected to the urban sewer in network and its full expansion will be completed by 2023.

• Energy:
• Development of a sustainable energy system characterized by a high degree of supply security, reliability, stable and affordable energy prices, a significantly reduced level of environmental impact, and a clear commitment to decarbonization for a future-proof energy policy.
• Large investments conducted for expanding and maintaining generation and distribution infrastructure.
• Energy consulting and energy support scheme for citizens in disadvantaged situations as part of the local energy policy goals for ensuring that the entire population meets the energy demand and affordable prices.

• Access to innovative, sustainable, affordable energy solutions in subsidised housing:
• The city of Vienna has been reactive to climate change and increasingly relying on innovative solutions to guarantee the highest level of comfort throughout the year.
• The promotion of renewable energy communities (REC) represents an essential building block for the expansion of renewables. Vienna is preparing a contact point for renewable energy generation systems and a one-stop for renewable energy communities.

• Mobility:
• Vienna has been investing in the food quality and affordability of the transport sector. 71% of all traffic routes are covered by public transport, bicycles or even on foot and the city invests in hydrogen buses and E-buses.