Navigation

Swiss to boost climate compensation funding

Switzerland says it is prepared to follow the European Union in providing additional money to compensate poor countries for the effects of climate change.

This content was published on December 13, 2009 - 16:14

In an interview published in Sunday’s NZZ am Sonntag newspaper, Environment Minister Moritz Leuenberger said the government could contribute up to an additional SFr150 million ($146 million) per year.

“We can make promises but they are subject to the approval of parliament,” Leuenberger added. Switzerland currently spends SFr80 million in public money to finance mitigation and adaptation measures in developing countries.

The EU last Friday promised to allocate €7.2 billion (SFr10.9 billion) over the next three years to short-term measures tackling the effects of global warming in developing countries.

Leuenberger also praised the EU for signalling it may boost its greenhouse gas reductions to 30 per cent from 20 per cent, a move that big European companies have criticised.

Leuenberger held off on saying whether Switzerland would follow suit.

“We are awaiting the outcome of the [Copenhagen climate] conference and will increase [emissions cuts] only if countries like the United States or China commit,” Leuenberger said.

swissinfo.ch and agencies

In compliance with the JTI standards

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here. Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

Sort by

Change your password

Do you really want to delete your profile?

Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the subscription process, please click the link in the email we just sent you.

Discover our weekly must-reads for free!

Sign up to get our top stories straight into your mailbox.

The SBC Privacy Policy provides additional information on how your data is processed.