Arctic adventure: from travel guide to Swiss diplomat

Marcel Schütz, 34, has been Switzerland's honorary consul on the Arctic island of Spitzbergen for two years. Bruno Kaufmann, SRF

Marcel Schütz moved from Switzerland to the remote Arctic island of Spitsbergen at the age of 20. Today he is the main foreign diplomat in the region, helping scientists and other visitors when they have questions or get into difficulties.

At Longyearbyen, capital of Spitsbergen, part of Norway’s Svalbard archipelago, the average temperature this summer was 7.7°C – the highest ever recorded.

“The climate has changed rapidly here over the past 15 years,” says Marcel Schütz, 34, who has been Switzerland’s honorary consul on the Arctic island for two years.

Located between Norway and the North Pole, the Svalbard archipelago serves as an important location to measure the state of climate change for scientists from around the world. “Swiss research institutions have carried out over 100 projects on Spitsbergen [the archipelago’s biggest island] in recent years,” Schütz explains.

But often visitors find themselves in tricky situations. “For example, if a researcher has an accident in the field or there are uncertainties about the regulations,” says the former Bern resident.

Snowy landscapes in all directions. Bruno Kaufmann, SRF

He began working on the island in the restaurant business, then as a tour guide. Nowadays he supports expeditions with their logistics and accompanies them as a photographer. For the past two years he has been Bern’s official representative on Spitsbergen. “As Switzerland’s honorary consul, I am the link to the distant homeland in case of crisis,” says Schütz, who is the main foreign diplomat living on the island.

Polar bears

As an experienced local resident who spends much of the year travelling outside the islands’ settlements, he’s not afraid of polar bears. “Over all these years, I’ve only had to use a pistol once,” he says. “But I have encountered bears many times on my tours.” Anyone who travels outside Longyearbyen is obliged to carry a loaded gun for self-defence.

Spitsbergen is governed by a League of Nations treaty from 1920, which transferred sovereignty to Norway and declared Spitsbergen a neutral, demilitarised and cosmopolitan territory.

“Anyone who can support themselves here with their own resources is allowed to settle on Spitsbergen,” explains Schütz.

But new challenges are increasingly worrying him and other locals. The climate crisis is causing permafrost to thaw, and rock and snow avalanches threaten island settlements. At the same time, tourism feels like it has peaked, says Schütz.

The geopolitical situation has also become more complicated. Russia’s aggression against Ukraine has threatened peaceful coexistence in the far north. As Moscow wants to strengthen its presence in the Arctic, Oslo is striving for greater control and is taking a dramatic step: revoking the right to vote in local elections for all non-Norwegian citizens.

The Swiss honorary consul is affected by this democratic change, as are roughly one-third of the local population. Despite this, Schütz has no plans to leave Spitsbergen. “I love the nature up here. It fascinates me every day,” he says.

The archipelago Svalbard means “cool coast” in Norwegian. Today, it is an important station for Arctic and climate research. Bruno Kaufmann, SRF