Climate Greens call for funds to adapt to the heat in summer
Money should be made available from the National Roads Fund for measures to combat climate change. This is what the Greens are calling for. Cities and cantons should have money at their disposal, for example to protect people from harmful heat.
26.08.2024, 11:36
SDA
The Greens announced several initiatives on Monday and presented them to the media in Bern. Traffic is the biggest driver of global warming in Switzerland, said Green parliamentary group leader Aline Trede on the demand to partially reallocate the National Road Fund. Money should flow at the request of municipalities and cantons.
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: Companies that are unable to work due to unbearable heat or storm damage should not have to make anyone redundant as a result.
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 CHF 300 million per year.
Finally, the Greens want to double Switzerland's contribution to international climate financing to one billion francs. However, this money should not be saved in development cooperation.
