SWI swissinfo.ch: Environment minister calls for national solidarity on climate change

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climate change
Environment minister calls for national solidarity on climate change
This content was published on March 3, 2019 2:40 PM Mar 3, 2019 - 14:40
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Simonetta Sommaruga took up her post as environment minister on January 1, 2019.
(Keystone)

Amid weeks of youth climate protests, the new environment minister Simonetta Sommaruga is calling for the country to unite to tackle climate change. In an interview with the German-language newspaper NZZ am Sonntagexternal link, she stressed the need for urgent action on road and air transportation and aligning the financial sector with climate priorities.

In her first lengthy interview since taking up her post as the head of the Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications on January 1, Sommaruga called on politicians to stop burying their heads in the sand in the face of climate change and stop fooling themselves and the population. “When the cows run out of water or the harvest fails, you can’t pretend that everything is in order,” she told NZZ.

Doing nothing costs money, she asserted, pointing to the costs of damage from avalanches, fires, and floods. She asserted that “we should stop seeing climate protection as something that only costs”, adding that we have to act now as it will only become more expensive later.
Taking youth seriously

She empathizes and is impressed with young climate protesters, a delegation of which she met on Wednesday. “I fully understand the concerns and impatience of these young people. It is about their future,” she told NZZ.

Time is of the essence though. While she said there is a need to act now on climate change, she said that the Federal Council needs more time to develop measures that help it achieve the goal of CO2 neutrality.

In December 2017, the Federal Council adopted revisions to the Federal Act on the Reduction of CO2 Emissions (CO2 Act) to help it achieve its commitment to the Paris Climate Agreement. But, in December 2018, the House of Representatives rejected the proposal after conservative-right parties weakened the revisions including removing a domestic CO2 emissions target.
Reconciling conflicting messages

Sommaruga recognized the need to reconcile often conflicting messages. For one, she said that “it is contradictory for us to pursue climate protection in Switzerland while at the same time investing in the oil sector, for example, through our pension fund assets and bank loans.” She said she supports efforts by the Senate to include the financial sector in the CO2 Act under discussion.

Transport is another area where the Swiss government has sent conflicting messages. While it is one of the biggest climate offenders, the Federal Council has supported the expansion of motorways to six lanes. To this, she said that there is no binding decision on six-lane motorways but many heavy, large cars are sold in the country noting that Switzerland’s new fleet of cars has the highest CO2 emissions in Europe.

Sommaruga insisted that, “we must reduce the emission targets for new cars as much as possible in line with the EU.”
Carrots and sticks

In reference to the recent discussions on an air ticket levy, she said that climate policy which relies on taxes and price signals may be effective but are not always best for society pointing out that low-income groups can be hit hardest when driving becomes more expensive.

+ Read more about the discussions on a tax on plane tickets

She indicated support for efforts such as building renovations that reduce heating costs and also create jobs. With this, she suggested that the county should focus on investing domestically rather than spend CHF16 billion every year on oil and gas abroad.

However, she didn’t downplay the importance of policies that put in place the right incentives for consumers. “We are in the process of bequeathing to future generations environmental problems that are dangerous and costly. And that is why it is also our task to set the right course now.”
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Green policy
Swiss ‘must do more for environment’, says report
This content was published on December 3, 2018 10:38 AM

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There are 19 comments on this article.
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"Gaz commented on the content at 03 March 2019 16:36".
Gaz 03-Mar-2019 16:36
The problem isnt switzerland it primarily the rest of the world the swiss have a very good carbon footprint but for heavens sake these worthless pricks that are responsible for the problem now want the kudos for the effort to fix it, which i might point out is as worthless as their input in the beginning which was to simply deny the issue existed and if it did well lets move the burden and the accountability generationally..... then what destroy þe last financial services on the planet with a shred of integrity to align their interest more closely with climate change initiatives, cut off your nose to spite you face good luck
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 "Cronopio replied to the comment of Gaz at 04 March 2019 07:38."
Cronopio 04-Mar-2019 07:38
If everyone thinks the problem depends on others, you can be sure it will never be solved.
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 "Jack replied to the comment of Gaz at 04 March 2019 09:36."
Jack 04-Mar-2019 09:36
While it is true that Switzerland is a small contributor to the world emissions, our per capita emissions is over 13 tons/ person. Why? We import about 50% of our total emissions via cars, computers, appliances, clothing, etc. that is manufactured in other countries.
We are currently feeling the effects and they will continue to get worse. One little problem is how we define things. A heat wave is when the temperature goes over 30°C for 3 days. But what really is the difference between a 30°C day and a 29°C day, particularly if the humidity increases and it doesn‘t cool off at night? So it doesn‘t matter how much we emit when your apartment is 30°C for 2 weeks because the owner won‘t insulate it.
The real trick is to mitigate in a way that allows us to adapt to the future. How do we reduce per capita energy consumption by 50% and emissions by 90%, and still live some sort of industrialized life style? If we don‘t mitigate in a way that adapts us, it will get really expensive (we end up paying for both) and set up future generations for a miserable existence.
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"Synergistic APPROACH commented on the content at 03 March 2019 17:23".
Synergistic APPROACH 03-Mar-2019 17:23
If Switzerland wants global solidarity to stop global warming, then it will adopt a SYNERGISTIC APPROACH which is the most effective way to maximally reduce carbon emissions and achieve carbon neutrality. Global Carbon Emissions = Population(main multiplier) X per capita emissions(secondary multiplier) X the technology (tertiary multiplier) which creates varying levels of emissions. Currently, most of the world is approaching this in the backwards order, by focusing mostly on technology, less on per capita emissions, and almost nothing on population. So, of course, the mathematically predictable result is ZERO REDUCTION in CO2 emissions with only financial profits for the "green"technology industry. If the World were to approach this in the effective order, then the focus would be mostly on CONTRACEPTION, less on per capita emissions, and very little on technology. The result would be a great reduction in Co2 emissions, and every other enviro problem would dramatically improve.

Why is the World intentionally working on global warming in the backwards order, guaranteeing failure and profits only for new technologies?
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 "Jack replied to the comment of Synergistic APPROACH at 04 March 2019 09:46."
Jack 04-Mar-2019 09:46
Yep. Population is a problem. Unfortunately we are where we are, and even if we waved a magic wand and reduce the population to 4 billion, we still need to reduce emissions per capita to 0 tons. When we have the other magic technology to pull CO2 out of the atmosphere, like planting planting trees instead of cutting them down and burning them, then we should be able to have some emissions and maintain balance. To answer your real question, the people in power have no idea how to make money off of buying and using less, or planting trees instead of cutting them for sale. So, they dream or support up cool technologies (to sell and make money) to distract us from actually solving the problem.
With climate change being only one of many problems facing us, we either get a grip and mange the collapse now, or nature will do it for us. And nature just doesn‘t care about whether we exist or not.
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"Philipp Stauffer commented on the content at 04 March 2019 08:29".
Philipp Stauffer 04-Mar-2019 08:29
It is almost sarcastic to realise my pension fund money is invested in the fossil fuel industry. So it is on one side supposed to finance my life in the future. But in the same time it helps to destroy this future by actively support the coming climate catastrophe. It is time to start protesting against this situation.
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"Terry Johnston commented on the content at 04 March 2019 09:21".
Terry Johnston 04-Mar-2019 09:21
You will lose your national sovereignty and all your liberties if you go along to get along with this 'climate change' issue. This is a power grab attempt by globalist communists to rob everyone of their wealth and liberties. The climate changes in cycles, primarily driven by the Sun's activity. The Earth is also encountering a polar shift and big corporate and political interests and forces are also engaging in geoengineering, causing horrible droughts in some regions and nasty storms in other regions, while the mainstream media outlets put the blame on common people for having a carbon footprint that is "too large". You have too much to lose if you don't fully investigate all that is happening.
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 "Helen Cass replied to the comment of Terry Johnston at 04 March 2019 17:45."
Helen Cass 04-Mar-2019 17:45
The intergovernmental panel on climate change have been investigating climate change for many years. The costs of inaction far outweigh the cost of investing in reduction of fossil fuels and efficiency in transport and building. Are you going to do your own personal investigation? Does that make sense? Perhaps you'll find a cure for cancer while you are at it.

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"Matthias commented on the content at 04 March 2019 11:08".
Matthias 04-Mar-2019 11:08
If Climate Change alarmists are correct, we are already doomed.
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 "Matthias replied to the comment of Matthias at 04 March 2019 12:02."
Matthias 04-Mar-2019 12:02
These articles are pure propaganda with moderators rejecting and editing comments. Catastrophic AGW is a total hoax!
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 "Jack replied to the comment of Matthias at 04 March 2019 12:29."
Jack 04-Mar-2019 12:29
That is actually a problem because the idea of doomed is relative.
Imagine driving 120 kmh on the autobahn. A large Camion flips over just about 60-70 meters ahead of you. Your onboard computer and experience tell you there is no way to stop in time. We are doomed. There are a couple of choices:
1. Do nothing and run into the Camion.
2. do everything possible (hit the brakes, put the car in park, and try to glance off cars in the other lane) to reduce the speed so that you can survive the impact. The car will be toast at the end, but if you do everything, there is a good chance the impact will be less than 60 kmh. We can survive that. Oh yes, your 3 year old is in a car seat in the back seat.

We have chosen to pick option 1. For 30 years we have done nothing to reduce emissions. We don‘t know what technologies could be developed in the next 30 years that could reduce atmospheric concentrations. It might be good to actually hit the brakes and see if we can buy some time for that 3 year old.
I keep hearing that hope is enough. BS.
Hope without action is worthless.
Hope with crisis action based in science and not politics............our 3 year old just might make it.
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"Terry Johnston commented on the content at 04 March 2019 12:03".
Terry Johnston 04-Mar-2019 12:03
Carbon Dioxide is a life giving gas. Plants depend on this along with sunlight, clean water, and mineral rich soil. In return for this plants give us food we depend upon, plus oxygen we depend upon to breathe. Carbon dioxide levels are dropping. Carbon dioxide is not responsible for climate change, the Sun and its cycles are the primary cause, followed by air pollution that blocks sunlight, but volcanic eruptions outproduce mankind's pollution emissions. I agree we need to improve the way we conduct ourselves and emit less air pollution and especially water pollution oh, and radiation and electrosmog too! I fully disagree with the CO2 argument though, and so do many scientists.
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"Gaz commented on the content at 04 March 2019 15:28".
Gaz 04-Mar-2019 15:28
If i told you this argument has been going on for a century you'll laugh at me right...
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 "Gaz replied to the comment of Gaz at 04 March 2019 16:21."
Gaz 04-Mar-2019 16:21
So where will you take your vote now ..... looks like only prick laughing is me........
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"Mark Goddard commented on the content at 05 March 2019 11:10".
Mark Goddard 05-Mar-2019 11:10
Two observations;

1) The idea that we have reached some critical juncture is simply alarmist. We have 150 years of weather readings over a time span of millions of years. How can anyone look at less than 0.0001% of the data and make any credible statement about the next 50 years?

2) Until I start reading about the number 1 cause of climate change by anyone including politicians then no one seems to have done even basic research.

FYI. THE number 1 issue is Animal Agriculture! Yes, it's number 1 by a wide margin. Eating animals people.

Animals need water to drink, animals need food to eat (the food needs water to grow and land to grow on) animals also need land to live on. Please do some reading everyone.

Animal agriculture makes fossil fuels and car emissions as joke in the overall contribution to this problem.
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"Luigi commented on the content at 06 March 2019 00:23".
Luigi 06-Mar-2019 00:23
Would be difficult if all countries/companies want growth.
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 "Synergistic APPROACH replied to the comment of Luigi at 06 March 2019 19:39."
Synergistic APPROACH 06-Mar-2019 19:39
It will be scientifically impossible to reduce CO2 if any countries want population growth, economic growth, and other forms of self-gratifying GREED.
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"Gaz commented on the content at 17 March 2019 19:24".
Gaz 17-Mar-2019 19:24
Seven to sign to get an initiative ..... psdp, depends what you make of it..... such is the mindset of our illustrious moral intellectual and political elite ........... as always the singular best exception is switzerland but the passive solar design principles into planning law will be the end of the state sponsored inefficient built environment
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"Gaz commented on the content at 21 March 2019 02:58".
Gaz 21-Mar-2019 02:58
Come on Simonetta try harder to pull this rabble into some sort of ubiquitous formation for heavens sake it looks like it might very well go to hell in a handbasket if it does lets not still be having the arguement post the arrival of armageddon just think how embarsing that would be
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