Brief Review

Environmental Performance

Switzerland has faced its environmental issues head on and has made improvements in several areas such as:

Air quality | The country has a National Air Pollution Monitoring Network (NABEL), along with urban and cantonal monitoring networks that provide information on current concentrations of pollutants in the air. Efforts on the part of industry to reduce emissions of air pollutants has been effective, however, unfortunately the increase in air pollutants from increased transportation has effectively negated any improvement. Almost 31 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in Switzerland in the year 2000 were due to transportation.

Despite having one of the best records in Europe in regard to levels of greenhouse gas emissions, there is still a problem with high levels of fine particles and ozone in the air. Fine particle pollution, caused by factory emissions and vehicle exhaust, account for more than 3.700 premature deaths each year in Switzerland, particularly for people who live in urban areas or near roads with high volumes of traffic.

The Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) is taking a number of measures to further reduce air pollutants in the future “from traffic to industry and from heating to agriculture.”

Water quality | Swiss tap water is as pure as bottled mineral water. Accounting for about a fifth of the country’s water reserves, more than 80 percent of the country’s drinking water comes from groundwater sources. These sources are so generally clean that 50 percent of it can be used as drinking water with no treatment whatsoever. The Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) monitors water levels and quality in all rivers, lakes and groundwater and is responsible for protecting these areas from exploitation and pollution.

Nearly 97 percent of the Swiss population is connected to waste treatment facilities. The country has for many years invested significant amounts of capital in the water system’s infrastructure. Though the quality of water throughout the country is excellent, there are still problems with contaminants such as nitrates, pesticides and hydrocarbons, mostly caused by residues from the agricultural industry from fertilizers and pesticides. Various strategies are being implemented to reduce these micropollutants.

Ozone layer protection | UV radiation has increased in Switzerland by about 6 percent since 1980 due to ozone layer depletion. Both national and international regulations are in place to help reduce the widening hole in the ozone layer. Swiss regulations can be found in the Ordinance on Risk Reduction Related to Chemical Products (ORRChem).