Switzerland Today
Dear Swiss Abroad,
After almost three years since the start of the Covid pandemic, two-thirds of Swiss told a survey they are again participating in cultural life – theatres, concerts, museums or the cinema – without concerns, twice as many as in June 2021.
This is definitely good news for the culture sector. But I must admit the two-thirds figure surprised me. My local cinema is usually pretty empty whenever I go. Mind you, CHF20 for a cinema ticket is probably having some kind of effect.
Read on for more news from Switzerland today.
In the news: Nigerian criminal gang, R&D investments, culture and flu epidemic.
- A Nigeriancriminalnetwork known as Black Axe is becoming increasingly active in Switzerland, with over 100 members, and is expected to continue to expand, according to the NZZ. It specialises in online fraud but is also active in drug and human trafficking and money laundering, the paper writes.
- FirmsinvestedCHF16.8 billion ($18 billion) in research and development (R&D) activities in Switzerland last year, a 4% increase compared to 2019. The pharmaceutical sector was the biggest R&D investor (CHF6.2 billion, or 37% of the total).
- The decision by Swiss air traffic control system Skyguide to closeSwissairspace for five hours earlier this year following a technical malfunction was appropriate, an external investigation has concluded. Early on June 15 a technical problem with the air traffic control system halted take-offs and landings at Swiss airports.
- Flu cases continue to spread in Switzerland, it has been reportedExternal link, with the number of registered cases doubling within a week. Cantons Aargau, Basel Country, Basel City, Solothurn, Graubünden and Ticino are badly hit. The spread is putting a strainExternal link on children’s hospitals as children aged 5-14 are the most affected age group.
2023 salary talks offer mixed picture, says Swiss union.
Switzerland’s second-biggest union, Travail.Suisse, says Swiss workers will receive next year some of the biggest wage rises of the past 20 years. But these will not compensate for the record increase in the cost of living.
Overall, salaryincreases of 2.5% are expected in Switzerland, the union said. The last time such a raise was reported was 2001. But this increase will be cancelled out by inflation, estimated at 3% this year.
“Despite the good ongoing economic situation, too many employers have shown themselves to be tight-fisted and not prepared to compensate for the entire increase in prices,” Thomas Bauer, head of economics policy at Travail.Suisse, told reporters today.
The situation is particularly difficult for people on low wages who spend 70-100% of their monthly income on goods and services. For them, the cost of living has increased by 4% in 2022, Bauer said. Meanwhile, the bill would increase for high-wage earners by only 1-2%, he estimates.
UN summit approves landmark global deal to halt biodiversity loss by 2030.
After over four years of negotiations, delays due to the Covid-19 pandemic and talks into the night yesterday in Montreal, nearly 200 countries – but not the US or the Vatican – signed the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework at the biodiversity COP15.
“The agreement is an important step for biodiversity,” said Franz PerrezExternal link, Swiss ambassador for the environment and head of the international affairs division at the Federal Office for the Environment.
“The strength of the agreement is the very concrete goals,” said Perrez, who led the negotiations for the Swiss delegation. In particular, the goal of placing at least 30% of the world’s land and marine areas under protection by 2030 is a success, he said.
More than one million species could vanish by the century’s end in what scientists have called a sixth mass-extinction event. As much as 40% of the world’s land has been degraded, and wildlife population sizes have shrunk dramatically since 1970.
Perrez admitted that Switzerland had been hoping for even moreambitioustargets on some points. “We would like to have seen a numerical target for the reduction of pesticides,” he said, adding that more countries could have declared their willingness to provide funding for the protection of biodiversity.
The deal directs countries to allocate $200 billion (CHF186 billion) a year for biodiversity initiatives from both public and private sectors. Developed countries will provide $25 billion in annual funding starting in 2025 and $30 billion a year by 2030. Environmental NGOs gave a mixedreaction to the global deal.
How to clean the city streets intelligently.
In Aarau in northern Switzerland the streetcleaners are getting smarter at identifying what kind of rubbish, and exactly how much, is dropped on the streets.
Using a cleaning vehicle fitted with special cameratechnology, workers were able to precisely spot and pick up 285,000 cigarette butts thrown on the city streets over a four-month period.
“The camera records the level of rubbish thrown away in an area,” Regina Wenk, manager of the Aarauer Werkhof, toldExternal link Swiss public radio, SRF. “It differentiates between cigarette butts, paper, glass, syringes and aluminium cans.”
With the data gathered from the pilot project, officials have been able to optimise the city’s cleaning activities and save money and energy by concentrating more regularly on the really dirty streets.
The technology also attributes a cleanlinessrating: Aarau got 4.36 on a scale of 0-5. This is good, says Wenk, while acknowledging that not everyone has the same idea of the meaning of cleanliness.
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