Switzerland steps up moves to protect environment
Switzerland is living up to pledges made at the Rio Earth summit in Brazil in 1992, according the head of the Federal Environment Agency, Philippe Roch. He was speaking at a conference to promote sustainable development in Switzerland.
Addressing the conference on Thursday, Roch said a multitude of projects to promote sustainable development on both local and federal levels were gathering pace.
Participants at the two-day conference in Berne took stock and exchanged views on projects which are part of the “Agenda 21” adopted by 179 countries at the United Nations environmental summit eight years ago.
There are currently 48 projects across Switzerland operated by local communities, private organisations and commercial companies. Roch said it was important to achieve a balance between a sound environment, an efficient economy and a fair society.
One such project is the Emmental region. Its backers hope to preserve the landscape and encourage people to support local producers (see “Emmental to benefit from sustainable development project”).
Roch told swissinfo that he was hopeful that the message would spread further and that there would be even more such programmes.
The head of the Swiss bird observatory in Sempach, Hans-Peter Pfister, said there was still some resistance to overcome against sustainable development projects, notably in tourist areas and from farmers.
The director-general of the World Wide Fund for Nature International, Claude Martin, pointed to the role non-governmental organisations have been playing in promoting the concept of sustainability.
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