THE PLANET vs. Austria
Holding Governments Accountable for Soil Sealing
Our Legal Action
In 2023, AllRise filed a state liability claim with the Austrian Constitutional Court against the federal government and the states of Lower and Upper Austria. The claim challenges their failure to stop excessive land consumption and enforce soil protection, holding lawmakers accountable for damages caused by inaction.
Our goal is clear: compel Austria to implement a comprehensive soil protection strategy and align national policies with EU climate and biodiversity targets, safeguarding ecosystems and communities for generations.
When the Constitutional Court dismissed the case in 2024, we escalated to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). A positive ruling could set precedent for all EU member states, confronting a continent-wide crisis: Europe is losing green space at the rate of 600 football pitches a day, as revealed by The Guardian and its partners.
We won’t let our future be paved over
The excessive consumption of land and rampant soil sealing in Austria represent one of the most pressing environmental and economic challenges facing the country today. Green spaces that harbor wildlife, capture carbon, and supply food are being permanently destroyed at an alarming rate. Our legal action is founded on undeniable evidence and a commitment to compelling the government to protect Austria's most vital resource: its soil.
Facts and figures
On land use in Austria
1
Austria’s land sealing rate is 2.35%, surpassing the EU average of 2.0% and more than double the global average of 1.0%.
2
Austria consumes over 11 hectares of land daily for construction, equal to ~16 football fields. This rate is over four times the government's target of 2.5 hectares per day.
3
As of 2022, around 52% of the utilized land area in Austria was sealed, translating to approximately 2,964 square kilometers.
4
Approximately 30% of Austria’s land area is used for agriculture, a critical sector increasingly under threat from sealing and land take.
5
Failure to meet EU climate targets due to excessive sealing could cost Austrian taxpayers several billion euros for the purchase of climate protection certificates.
A Way forward
Effective land protection requires both political will and legal accountability. We advocate for:
Regional planning with clear settlement boundaries and devolved responsibilities
Balancing new development with the re-zoning and reuse of land
Better use of existing building stock to prevent unnecessary soil sealing
Incentives for sustainable renovation and expansion of buildings
By combining legal action with smart policy, we can protect fertile soil, preserve biodiversity, and safeguard climate resilience.
Take Action
Soil sealing often happens out of sight, through unlawful construction, zoning violations, or projects pushed forward without proper environmental oversight. These harms rarely reach the courts unless someone reports them early.
To make that possible, AllRise created aktie.earth, a secure platform where anyone can anonymously report environmental violations, including land take and soil sealing. Your report helps us identify patterns, investigate wrongdoing, and build cases that hold governments and developers accountable.
See something that threatens nature?
Report it safely at aktie.earth.