Intercity march by climate activists culminates in Bern

The Blue March started at the Place des Nations in Geneva on April 1 and ended a the Bundesplatz in Bern. © Keystone / Peter Klaunzer

Four activists reached the Swiss capital of Bern on Saturday after a 224-kilometre walk to push for a more ambitious government strategy on climate change. 

Nearly 4,000 people took part in a final rally early Saturday afternoon, according to Keystone-SDA news agency.

The four initiators of the “Marche Bleue” (Blue March) walked over 21 days from Geneva via Lausanne, Neuchâtel and Fribourg to Bern. People showing solidarity accompanied them. In Bern,  large crowds welcomed the activists at the Bundesplatz main square.

The four women are university professor and climate scientist Julia Steinberger, lawyer Irène Wettstein, infectiologist Valérie d’Acremont and political scientist Bastienne Joerchel.

Acremont told the Keystone-SDA news agency she was surprised and delighted by the many determined women who showed up to welcome them. She said they had not expected so much solidarity either at the march or in Bern.

Paris Agreement

The goal of the walk is to be heard by the Federal Council (executive body) so that it does everything possible to comply with the Paris climate agreement, d’Acremont continued. In addition, they want to show politicians that the population is determined in the face of the climate emergency.

Joerchel said the march was a sign that Switzerland really needs to do something now, and quickly, to implement the Paris Agreement. “Switzerland has not done enough yet,” she said.

+ Swiss CO2 law defeated at the ballot box

Specifically, the initiators are presenting a petition for greenhouse gas emissions to be cut in half by 2030 and to reach net zero before 2050. In the implementation, the ecosystem should be protected and justice in society should be taken into account.

For climatologist Martine Rebez, the biggest problem is mobility. “We need to get out of thermal mobility much faster to reduce emissions,” she said. The climate protection law, which will be voted on June 18, is the minimum that needs to be done, she said.