On 1 December 2025, the first forum of the new NEXT LEVEL Forum Series took place at the Austrian National Bank (OeNB) in Vienna – a format designed to discuss key transformation challenges across sectoral, disciplinary and institutional boundaries and to jointly explore solution spaces.
The strong response and the broad spectrum of participants underline the urgency of thinking about Carbon Management in a comprehensive way – technologically, politically, economically and socially, as well as simultaneously at global, regional and national levels.
A first selection of photographs from the event can be found in our gallery via this link.
Opening remarks: Why we need to rethink “NEXT LEVEL” Against all Odds
In his opening remarks, Reinhold Lang, President of the Club of Rome – Austrian Chapter, emphasised the need to move forward boldly and systemically, despite challenging framework conditions:
- Transformation requires cooperation, particularly in interaction with technological progress and transformative innovation.
- Comprehensive Carbon Management (cCM) represents a key lever for an integrated industrial, energy, climate and circular economy policy.
- Austria has specific opportunities to assume a leading role through cross-sectoral and transnational cooperation.
- “Against all Odds” is not only a slogan, but a mindset and a call to action, including a renewed reflection on the “Limits to Growth” in light of these considerations.
Josef Meichenitsch (OeNB Executive Board and CoR-AT Board Member) highlighted in his welcome address that the OeNB deliberately provides space for such dialogues, as economic stability, resilience and climate-related risks, as well as broader ecological challenges, cannot be separated.
Keynote by Reinhold Lang: Transformative innovation for a future-proof industry
The keynote that followed provided a conceptual anchor for the forum.
Reinhold Lang illustrated how cCM can function as a strategic framework for a “Circular Carbon Economy” and for achieving climate and circular economy objectives – embedded in the insights of the CoR Earth4All initiative and the system-level turnarounds.
A more detailed article on the keynote will follow.
The presentation slides are available for download in an extended version here as a PDF.
Industry impulses: perspectives and responsibility
Four concise, industry-specific impulse presentations by senior representatives of Austria’s hard-to-abate (HTA) industries highlighted future developments and transformation pathways from the perspectives of the cement industry (HOLCIM), the gas and energy storage sector (RAG), the steel industry (voestalpine) and the hydrogen economy (VERBUND Green Hydrogen). The following topics were at the centre of discussion:
- Carbon Capture, Utilization & Storage (CCUS)
- Renewable energy and hydrogen as enablers of transformation, as well as the necessity of transnational cooperation
- Infrastructure and investment pathways for Austria
- Austrian industrial policy and European framework conditions
A dedicated article covering the industry impulses will follow.
Panels: transnational and cross-sectoral cooperation
Two high-level panel discussions subsequently addressed concrete fields of action:
Panel 1 – Europe & international cooperation
Representatives of the European Commission, CEOs for Future, OeEB and VERBUND explored the role of European value chains, emerging alliances and geopolitical dependencies.
Panel 2 – Austrian industry & cross-sectoral collaboration
RAG, Holcim, VERBUND and voestalpine discussed challenges, opportunities and the framework conditions required for comprehensive transformation.
Individual contributions from both panels will be published in the coming days.
Atmosphere, exchange and new connections
The afternoon clearly demonstrated the strong interest in systemically grounded solution approaches. During the concluding networking session, numerous new conversations, collaborations and connections emerged between industry, academia and public administration.
Thanks to cooperation partners and supporters
In cooperation with: Austrian National Bank (OeNB)
With the kind support of: AEE INTEC, BioBASE GmbH, FH Joanneum, nova Institute for Political and Ecological Innovation, Austrian Carbon Cycle Circle
We sincerely thank all partners and supporters for their valuable cooperation.
Outlook
The NEXT LEVEL Forum Series will continue in 2026.
Further information on the event series can be found here; an overview of all previous contributions is available here.
Further information will be published shortly via our website and newsletter.
Photos: © Club of Rome – Austrian Chapter / Sacha Gillen