Second Alpine Climate Summit brings together international experts on the topic of "Climate change in the Alps"

At the second Alpine Climate Summit, which will take place on the Tyrolean side of the Zugspitze from 4 to 5 June 2025, top-class personalities will shed light on "Perspectives for the changing Alpine world" in the highest TV studio in the Alps. Four current publications will also be presented and discussed at the summit: the "Alpine Climate Winter Bulletin 24/25" (advance notice) from GeoSphere Austria, the German Weather Service and MeteoSchweiz as well as the position paper from the expert forum Klima.Sport.Schnee, the new "Alpine Manifesto" from AlpNet and a representative Eurac study on how the South Tyrolean population perceives climate change.

The Alpine Climate Summit will focus on a variety of perspectives and dialogue formats on the changing Alpine region.
To kick things off, renowned climate researchers will provide a scientifically sound categorisation of current developments. © Tiroler Zugspitz Arena / Franz Oss

From extreme weather events and the opportunities and risks of climate communication to concrete adaptation processes in the economy, agriculture and tourism: in the highest TV studio in the Alps, which will be set up in the Panorama summit restaurant on the Zugspitze, leading climate researchers will meet with renowned opinion leaders from science, health, agriculture, tourism, business and sport as well as climate activists and meteorologists from 4 to 5 June 2025 to discuss various aspects and effects of climate change in the Alps. The framework for this is provided by expert discussions and high-reach media formats from renowned TV stations, online platforms, podcast formats and social media channels, which achieved a reach of around 30 million at the successful premiere of the Alpine Climate Summit last year.

Wake-up call from science

To kick off the second Alpine Climate Summit, a high-calibre panel of scientists will describe the "reality check" using the latest data. The Austrian glaciologist Andrea Fischer, Marc Olefs (Head of the Climate Impact Research Department at GeoSphere Austria), Lothar Bock (meteorologist at the German Weather Service), Sven Kotlarski (Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology MeteoSwiss) and the renowned climate researcher and winner of the German Hydrology Prize 2024 Harald Kunstmann will use these findings to discuss the tangible consequences of climate change and the effectiveness of necessary climate adaptation strategies in the Alps. The current "Alpine Climate Winter Bulletin 24/25" from the German Weather Service, MeteoSchweiz and GeoSphere Austria as well as the position paper from the expert forum Klima.Sport.Schnee on "Prospects for winter and mountain sports in the face of global climate change" will also be addressed by this panel.

Building on the "reality check", experts - including Clemens Matt (Secretary General of the Austrian Alpine Association), business expert and Greenpeace spokesperson Ursula Bittner, German climate protection activist Carla Reemtsma and Hubert Siller (Head of MCI Tourism) - will discuss key challenges facing the changing Alpine environment.

New Alpine Manifesto defines guidelines

Karin Seiler, Managing Director of Tirol Werbung and President of the AlpNet association, to which nine Alpine regions belong, will present AlpNet's "Alpine Manifesto" together with Stefan Egenter (Managing Director of Allgäu GmbH) at the Alpine Climate Summit. This summarises in ten guiding principles how a respectful approach to the Alpine habitat and all living beings in it can succeed. Lighthouse projects from Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy illustrate how these principles are implemented in everyday regional life.

Next Generation, health and energy

Representatives of "Fridays for Future" from Germany and Austria and the behavioural economist and economic researcher Matthias Sutter (Director at the Max Planck Institute in Cologne) will analyse what young people's climate commitment means and what limits they are coming up against.

In a podcast by the Austrian daily newspaper "Der Standard", journalist Zsolt Wilhelm and Cathleen Berger (expert for future technologies and sustainability at the Bertelsmann Stiftung) will explore the question of whether the facts and consequences of climate change are increasingly being denied in political discourse and what effect deliberate disinformation is having on the climate debate. Finally, the science talk on Pro7Sat.1's JOYN streaming platform, hosted by German TV presenter Claudia von Brauchitsch, will feature live experiments by German comedian and magician Konrad Stöckel and an exchange with Spiegel bestselling author Jan Hegenberg.

In the Perspectives Talk, Michael Kraxner (CEO of TIWAG), Sebastian Freier (Technical Director of EW-Reutte), Karlheinz Wex (CEO of Plansee Group) and Hans-Georg Pittl (Mayor of Ladis) will address the question of how the energy transition can succeed as active climate protection.

Rising temperatures have a negative impact on health and the environment. Heinz Fuchsig (environmental physician and environmental officer of the Austrian Medical Association), Johanna Schumann (Sustainability Management DSV | SIS), Christine Busch (Managing Director of CIPRA Germany), Tobias Hipp from the German Alpine Association and Jens Ulrich Rüffer (KlimaDocs) will analyse how this affects living and recreational areas and why people are drawn to supposedly cooler mountain regions.

How South Tyrol thinks about change

"This is how South Tyrol thinks" is the title of a joint study by the Centre for Advanced Studies of Eurac Research and the regional institute for statistics ASTAT, the results of which will be presented by Felix Windegger (social scientist at the Centre for Advanced Studies of Eurac Research in Bolzano) at the second Alpine Climate Summit. The study sheds light on how people in South Tyrol react emotionally to climate change and its consequences and which social tensions and conflicts arise as a result.

Economy, agriculture and tourism need to rethink

In view of the fact that Alpine tourism is particularly affected by climate change, Reinhard Klier (cable car spokesperson Tyrol), Michaela Gasser-Mark (consultant for tourism sustainability), the Swiss Martina Hollstein Stadler (Managing Director and partner Mounteco GmbH) and Gerhard Eichhorn (Sustainability Coordinator TVB St. Anton am Arlberg) will discuss concrete adaptation strategies and new business models on the Zugspitze.

Verena Radinger-Peer (BOKU Vienna), Christian Partl (Tyrolean Gene Bank) and Romed Giner (Gemüse Giner) - moderated by meteorologist and weather presenter Georg Haas - will look at the effects of extreme weather events and the adaptability of agriculture, for example with sustainable cultivation methods and climate-resistant varieties.

German sustainability expert Christian Berg and economist Claudia Kemfert (Head of the Energy, Transport and Environment Department at the German Institute for Economic Research), together with entrepreneur Simon Meinschad (hollu Systemhygiene GmbH), will shed light on the challenges and opportunities that climate change presents for the economy.

The Alpine Climate Summit will once again be organised according to the criteria of "Green Event Tirol basic" in 2025.
Information on the 2025 speakers and the current programme (subject to change) can be found at www.alpenklimagipfel.jetzt.

Voices on the Alpine Climate Summit 2025

Advisory Board:

Under the leadership of PD Dr Andrea Fischer and Prof Dr Ralf Roth, the interdisciplinary Advisory Board stands for the strength of content and visionary perspectives of the Alpine Climate Summit. With clear impulses and a keen sense for current topics, they shape a programme that combines relevance, depth and practical relevance.

The representatives of the Advisory Board of the Alpine Climate Summit, university professor Ralf Roth and glaciologist Andrea Fischer. © Tiroler Zugspitz Arena / Franz Oss

Andrea Fischer (scientist at the Institute of Interdisciplinary Mountain Research at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, glaciologist, Scientist of the Year 2023): "Many discussions only take place in science, business or politics. At the end of the day, however, it's about an interdisciplinary exchange, for which the Alpine Climate Summit offers the ideal opportunity. This is the only way we can develop sustainable solutions to the challenges of climate change."

Ralf Roth (Head of the Institute for Outdoor Sport and Environmental Research at the German Sport University Cologne, initiator of the D-A-CH network "Climate.Sport.Snow"): "Climate adaptation is dynamic, varies from region to region and is closely linked to social and sports tourism developments. In polarising times, clear orientation and concrete solutions are needed. It is up to all of us to implement science-based goals for climate protection and adaptation. This requires real dialogue. The Alpine Climate Summit creates space for knowledge transfer and joint steps - for sustainable development with shared responsibility."

Hosts:

Theo Zoller (Chairman of the Tiroler Zugspitz Arena Tourism Association): "We are delighted that renowned experts are meeting for the second time on the image-rich Zugspitze to take a scientifically sound look at climate change and its effects."

Martin Reiter (CEO of the Lebensraum Tirol Group): "Climate change is massively altering the framework conditions for the economy, tourism and agriculture. Together with our subsidiaries Standortagentur Tirol, Agrarmarketing Tirol and Tirol Werbung, it is therefore very important for us to discuss the issue on a broad basis and to do our best to address climate change."

Matthias Pöschl (Managing Director of Agrarmarketing Tirol): "Small-scale agriculture in Tirol has always been an example of site-adapted and resource-conserving management - and is therefore a key pillar of sustainable development in the Alpine region. Particularly in view of the increasing challenges posed by climate change, it can continue to play a central role in the future. This makes interdisciplinary dialogue all the more important: formats such as the Alpine Climate Summit make an important contribution to pooling knowledge, networking perspectives and jointly developing sustainable solutions."

Marcus Hofer (Managing Director of Standortagentur Tirol): "Climate change is altering the framework conditions for innovation, location development and the economy - ecologically, economically and socially. This makes it all the more important not only to accompany this change, but to actively help shape it. Innovations can be part of the solutions to the challenges of climate change - especially when they are developed further in dialogue between science, companies and society."

About the Alpine Climate Summit

The Alpine Climate Summit is an interdisciplinary dialogue platform on the topic of climate change in the Alpine region. The aim is to bring together experts from science, business, health, sport, media, politics and civil society, make sound information accessible and discuss concrete solutions. A team of representatives from various disciplines was formed around the organisation to guarantee a high-quality programme. This team includes PD Dr Andrea Fischer (scientist at the Institute for Interdisciplinary Mountain Research at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, glaciologist, Scientist of the Year 2023) and Prof Dr Ralf Roth (Head of the Institute for Outdoor Sport and Environmental Research at the German Sport University Cologne, initiator of the D-A-CH network "Climate.Sport.Snow").

The AlpenKlimaGipfel is hosted by the Tiroler Zugspitz Arena region and the Tiroler Zugspitzbahn, supported by the Lebensraum Tirol Group and its subsidiaries Tirol Werbung, Standortagentur Tirol and Agrarmarketing Tirol. The AlpenKlimaGipfel is supported by partners such as Elektrizitätswerke Reutte (EWR-Energie) and the Plansee Group.

Enquiry:

Rafaela Bodner, MA
AlpenKlimaGipfel - Gespräche auf der Zugspitze
Brunecker Str. 1
6020 Innsbruck
t: +43 512 214004-22
m: +43 664 8342425
www.newsroom.pr
rafaela.bodner@pro.media