Swiss Green Party wants road fund to finance heatwave relief
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Swiss Green Party wants road fund to finance heatwave relief
Swiss cities and cantons should have access to National Roads Fund cash to help combat heat waves, the Green Party has suggested.
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Traffic is the biggest driver of global warming in Switzerland, said Green parliamentary group leader Aline Trede. The National Road Fund should therefore pay for climate change-related heat problems.
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The Greens argue that heat is increasingly becoming a health problem in cities, especially for older people. Sunshades and water sprinklers are not enough, said Anina Ineichen, a member of the Basel City Green Party council; more green spaces and large, shady and cooling trees are needed.
The Greens also want to extend short-time working compensation to cover companies that are unable to work due to unbearable heat or storm damage. This would mitigate the danger of workers being made redundant.
Other points include cross-departmental climate coordination at federal level and climate insurance to cover damage caused by extreme natural events. Trede said that the federal government must seek solutions to the question of how to insure these losses of around CHF300 million per year.
Finally, the Greens want to double Switzerland’s contribution to international climate financing to CHF1 billion.
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Translated from German by DeepL/mga
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