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CLIMATE CRISIS

Climate change transforming Switzerland ‘into Tuscany’, scientists warn

Rising temperatures in Switzerland caused by climate change are gradually transforming the famous Alpine scenery so it looks more like the dryer region of Tuscany, an environmental group has warned.

Published: 8 August 2022 16:55 CEST
Climate change transforming Switzerland 'into Tuscany', scientists warn
Switzerland is taking on the colour of Tuscany., scientists warn. An aerial picture taken on September 15, 2020 shows the Castello di Brolio castle (Rear) towering over the Ricasoli company lands and vineyards, the most extensive in the Chianti Classico area, in Gaiole in Chianti, Tuscany. (Photo by MIGUEL MEDINA / AFP)

Global warming is leading to a “tuscanisation” of Switzerland’s landscape, the Swiss Foundation for the Protection and Management of Landscape (Sl-Fp) warned on Monday.

And the transformation could have major consequences on the country’s tourism industry.

The increasing number of heatwaves and dry periods over the past twenty years in Switzerland have already had a big impact on the landscape.

On Monday the foundation warned that as these episodes increase, the colour of the Swiss landscape will visibly change due to the reduction in the amount of water feeding the landscapes.

READ ALSO: Why Switzerland’s glaciers are melting faster than usual this summer

It warned that “the romantic ideal of a ‘green’ and water-rich Switzerland seems to be undergoing a lasting transformation”.

They dominant colour of green will be replaced by lighter shades of yellow and brown that are reminiscent of the dry landscapes of the Tuscan valleys, the foundation wrote in a press release.

It also warned that at higher levels the retreat of glaciers and drop in the volume of water means the moraines high up in the mountains will vegetate at a much slower rate, meaning the Swiss mountains will be less green.

Natural streams and waterfalls are also drying up, a situation seen in Italy, in the Piedmontese and Ligurian Alps, notes the foundation.

READ ALSO: ‘An impossible dream’: Will we come to dread Swiss summer in future?

According to the foundation, increasing water loss and warmer temperatures have an impact on biodiversity and reduce landscape variety.

The changing landscape will also reduces the recreational value of the mountains and therefore hit the tourism industry hard, it warned.

A 2014 report by scientists that looked at the tangible ways the climate crisis will change Switzerland said that whilst melting glaciers was the most talked about change there are other ways the country will be affected.

“Agriculture will face increased heat stress for livestock, and tree species distribution will change. The tourist industry will have to cope with shorter ski seasons  and the urban population will be exposed to more heat days,” the report said.

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CLIMATE CRISIS

Swiss upper house spurns European court climate ruling

Switzerland's upper house of parliament on Wednesday voted to spurn a landmark ruling by Europe's top rights court faulting the country for not doing enough to combat climate change.

Published: 6 June 2024 08:21 CEST
Swiss upper house spurns European court climate ruling

The Council of States voted 31-11 to adopt a statement criticising the European Court of Human Rights ruling, which made Switzerland the first country ever to be condemned by an international tribunal for not going far enough in tackling the issue.

Switzerland’s lower house will decide on a similar motion next week, which could leave the government in a tricky position if parliament as a whole rejects the ECHR verdict.

In April, the ECHR found that the Swiss state had violated Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which guarantees the “right to respect for private and family life”.

The case was brought by the Swiss association Elders for Climate Protection, a group of 2,500 women aged 73 on average.

The organisation wants climate protection to be recognised as a human right and says the Swiss authorities’ failure to mitigate the effects of climate change is having a negative impact on their lives and health.

‘Defend Swiss interests’ call 

The motion passed Wednesday “notes with concern” the ruling, saying the court had exceeded the limits of interpreting the law, thereby exposing “itself to the criticism of exercising inappropriate and unacceptable judicial activism”.

It called on the court to “respect the democratic processes” of member states.

The motion invited the Swiss government to engage with the Council of Europe “to defend the interests of Switzerland”.

It urged Bern to explain that Swiss voters had in a referendum last year approved a law setting a target to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, and that the country “has so far respected its international climate commitments”, the text said.

“Switzerland therefore sees no reason to take further action on the court’s judgement,” it said. The Elders for Climate Protection said the declaration “changes nothing”.

“States must all contribute to limiting the global rise in temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Our country is far from being on the right track,” the group’s co-president Anne Mahrer said in a statement.

“Parliamentarians are seeking to divert attention from their own failure to put in place effective measures to protect us from global warming’s alarming impacts on health and life,” she said, urging them to “respect the law and the ECHR”.

The parliamentary motion passed just days before a referendum on Sunday brought by groups opposed to the climate bill approved last year.

Some environmental groups, with the backing of the hard-right Swiss People’s Party, pushed for the vote, warning that the ambition to rapidly scale up wind and solar power production could threaten Switzerland’s pristine Alpine landscapes.

However, in a recent opinion poll, 73 percent of voters said they backed the law.

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