Switzerland Today
Dear Swiss Abroad,
The Women’s Euro football tournament kicks off in Switzerland at 6pm. For UEFA, European football's Swiss-based governing body, the tournament is already a success, with more than 600,000 of 670,000 tickets sold. In the coming weeks, we’ll be able to gauge the enthusiasm that Euro 2025 has generated outside the stadiums, in the many fan zones and on the streets.
The air conditioning boom and the rescue of the Red Cross Museum round off this briefing.
From today until July 27, Switzerland will be rocking to the rhythm of the Women’s Euro football tournament. The national team kicks off its tournament with its biggest challenge of the group phase, taking on Norway at 9pm this evening in Basel.
For the Swiss team, Euro 2025 starts with a tough opponent: Norway, who have recently beaten the Swiss in the Nations League. Switzerland, who have taken part in only two European Championships, winning just one game, are aiming to qualify for the quarterfinals. “We want to spring a surprise. People may see us as not being very strong, but it’s up to us to make the difference,” said midfielder Coumba Sow.
Despite Switzerland’s poor showing in the Nations League this spring, the team’s Swedish manager, Pia Sundhage, believes they have what it takes. “Hosting the European Championship and living up to expectations is very exciting. It’s my biggest challenge. I think we’re going to surprise people,” she told Swiss public broadcaster, RTS.
As well as the sporting aspect, the Swiss media also mention the societal aspect of the women’s football tournament. “Unlike their male counterparts, the Swiss women have a mission that goes beyond results. They have to give women’s football a lasting boost,” said the CH Media newspapers. “The players will be representing not just their own country but all women footballers here and abroad who are looking for credibility,” say 24 heures and Tribune de Genève.
Yesterday the government unveiled the issues on which you will be asked to vote on November 30. Two popular initiatives and possibly a referendum will be put to the Swiss people.
Swiss citizens will vote on the “Citizen Service” initiative. Its aim is to make community service compulsory for everyone, regardless of gender. This could take the form of civilian or military service, civil protection or any other militia commitment.
The popular initiative “For a social climate policy – fairly financed through taxation (Initiative for a future)” by the youth section of the Social Democratic Party (JUSO) will also be put to the vote. The initiative seeks to tax inheritances in excess of CHF50 million ($63 million) in order to finance climate measures. The initiative did not stand a chance in parliament. The greatest fear is that succession in family businesses will be made difficult or impossible by high taxes.
A third issue could also appear on the ballot if the 50,000 signatures required for a referendum are collected by July 10: the amendment to the Swiss Post Act. This provides for an increase in indirect aid to the press through support for newspaper distribution. A non-partisan committee launched a referendum against this project at the end of April.
The International Red Cross Museum has been saved. This national institution was threatened by federal budget cuts.
The Federal Office of Culture (FOC) announced yesterday that it would support 20 museums for the period from 2027 to 2030. Among them, and for the first time, is the International Red Cross Museum in Geneva. The FOC’s annual contribution of CHF170,000 ($215,000), in addition to CHF400,000 from the foreign ministry and canton Geneva, will enable the museum to continue to exist.
The International Red Cross Museum is relieved. “Although this total of CHF970,000 is still less than the federal support we currently receive (CHF1,072,900), it will enable the museum to continue to operate. However, additional efforts will be required to close the gap,” said Alice Baronnet, a public relations officer.
As part of its cost-cutting plan, the government had announced that it wanted to abolish the annual subsidy of CHF1.1 million paid to the institution by the foreign ministry. The idea was to replace it with funding from the Federal Office of Culture. The museum’s management feared this would jeopardise its future.
To combat the heatwave, more and more Swiss people are installing air conditioning units. The trend is global: in some countries, there’s a real boom.
Swiss public broadcaster, SRF, reports that Switzerland is spending more and more money on cooling its buildings. Last year, CHF319 million ($400 million) worth of air-conditioning equipment and components were imported into Switzerland, an increase of more than 20% compared with ten years ago.
There are around two billion air conditioners in the world, almost 70% of which are installed in private homes. This figure is set to rise to five billion over the next decade, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).
This represents a real energy challenge. On a global scale, these appliances consume 10% of the world’s electricity, or one-and-a-half times the consumption of the whole of Africa. A few years ago, the IEA published a study showing that electricity consumption would triple over the next few decades.
Translated from French by DeepL/ts
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