The AUSTRIAN WORLD SUMMIT 2025 highlights that cooperation across borders is crucial for more climate protection. Van der Bellen: “The climate crisis is a major threat, that unites us all.”
Arnold Schwarzenegger’s message at the ninth Austrian World Summit in 2025 was crystal clear: “When people ask, “What do we do?” I say: Stop whining. Whining doesn’t change anything. Get to work.”
Schwarzenegger follows to bring a wealth of best-practice examples to the table — from his groundbreaking initiatives as Governor of California, such as green building standards, the Million Solar Roofs Initiative and the Global Warming Solutions Act, to forward-thinking cities like San Diego and Grenoble, France, which are leading the way with progressive environmental legislation.
“You can’t just sit and make excuses because one guy in a white house doesn’t agree with you. We need heroes. We need to win people over. And you don’t do that by talking. You do it by taking action that improves their lives – now.”
No Excuses – More Action
The Austrian Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen, patron of the climate conference, received a standing ovation from the audience and agreed with Schwarzenegger’s opinion: ‘Our planet is not the responsibility of individual countries, parties or groups – or even individual people. It is the responsibility of all of us. The climate crisis is a major threat, that unites us all. And environmental protection is a major task that unites us all.’
Financing clean solutions
Tony Blair, former British Prime Minister, emphasised the urgency of the issue in conversation with Arnold Schwarzenegger: “The world needs a reinvigorated commitment to meet the urgent need for climate action, delivering solutions that are pragmatic, improve people lives, and drive down emissions. The scale of the challenge requires continued international cooperation because pollution and climate change respect no country’s borders. We are all in this together. We must work across political divides, ensuring that money is targeted where it can make the most difference, including financing clean solutions across the world and utilising new and emerging technological advancements to accelerate progress. The Schwarzenegger Climate Initiative is an important and much needed voice in this debate, raising the issues that matter to us all.”
Every contribution counts
In his speech, Federal Chancellor Christian Stocker emphasised that the global crises shows that we can only achieve long-term success with global solutions. ‘Ambitious climate targets must go hand in hand with prosperity, security of supply and the preservation of a competitive industry,’ Stocker continued. ‘This requires us all to act together. Every contribution counts – be it innovative ideas, sustainable action or a commitment to protecting our natural environment.’
Revving up competitiveness
Wopke Hoekstra, European Commissioner for Climate, Net Zero and Clean Growth, appreciates Governor Schwarzenegger’s years of work and tireless efforts in the fight against climate change and pollution: “It’s so important to keep up the political momentum because this existential crisis is not going away. In fact, it may be our greatest opportunity to solve many of the problems facing us. By strengthening our position as a clean superpower, the EU will turbocharge its competitiveness and productivity and create enormous benefits for our citizens.”
No longer a distant threat
On the morning of the AUSTRIAN WORLD SUMMIT 2025, the fully packed conference hall of Vienna’s Hofburg made one thing unmistakably clear: the climate crisis is already having a serious impact on our daily lives. In one of the panel discussions, Vienna’s fire chief Viktoria Zechmeister and Dom Bei, fire chief from Santa Monica, shared powerful accounts of their missions over the past year. Both were on the front lines of major extreme weather events — devastating wildfires in California and severe flooding in Austria. Their conversation highlighted a sobering truth: the climate crisis is no longer a distant or abstract danger. It is here, it is real, and it is already costing lives, depleting resources, and demanding international cooperation.