Austria Won’t Shy From Eco Tax Even as EU Suffers Energy Squeeze

Austria signaled that Europe’s energy crunch, which has pushed up power and gas prices across the continent, won’t derail the country’s ambitions to curb emissions.

The nation’s governmenthas announced plans to raise the cost of driving and heating with fossil fuels by introducing a so-called eco-social tax. The move comes as an energy squeeze grips the region, boosting costs for companies and consumers while testing the European Union’s commitment to its Green Deal.

“Rising gas prices are a reminder for the climate-related risks that are yet to come,” said Joel Toelgyes of the Momentum Institute, a Vienna-based climate and ...