BERN (AP/Bloomberg) – Switzerland needs 387 billion francs (361 billion euros) of investment to be climate neutral by 2050. That’s according to a report by the Swiss Bankers Association (SBA) and Boston Consulting Group. The amount is equivalent to about 2 percent of the annual output of the Swiss economy.
The United Nations Climate Panel IPCC said earlier this month that the Earth could warm by 1.5 degrees in the next two decades if drastic measures were not taken to curb greenhouse gas emissions. The authors of the report described the rise in sea levels as a result of global warming as irreversible. Experts say rising global temperatures are also leading to more extreme weather.
According to a report by the SBA and the Boston Consulting Group, an annual investment of €12 billion is needed to make Swiss society sustainable. The researchers advise the Swiss government, among other things, to introduce additional “green incentives”. These are the actions that make it more attractive for companies to become more sustainable.
Last year, the Dutch Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL) calculated the costs of the Dutch Energy and Climate Agreement. The climate agreement, concluded in 2019, is currently the starting point for national climate policy. From 2000 to 2050, the PBL estimated climate policy costs at €52 billion, just over €1 billion annually. About twice as many people live in the Netherlands as in Switzerland.
