General Information » Environment » Environmental Issues

The lack of space in Geneva has resulted in conflict between those in favour of economic development and groups who are trying to preserve the country’s natural heritage. Fortunately, despite ongoing urban development, protecting the environment is high on Switzerland’s list of priorities and several environmental protection laws have been introduced in past years. For example, a tree may only be felled if a new one is planted to replace it, hunting is only permitted at certain times of the year, and several endangered animals and plant species are protected.

Switzerland has ratified the Kyoto protocol to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change and is party to many other environmental agreements. At a local level many actions are being taken to improve the quality of the air and water and a massive campaign is underway to educate people about environmental issues and encourage environmentally friendly lifestyles. New taxes are being introduced in an attempt to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Farmers too are being encouraged to use environmentally friendly methods and restrict their use of pesticides and herbicides (which eventually run into rivers and streams and harm fauna and flora). In addition, ecotourism is being promoted throughout the country, encouraging people to use non polluting (and healthier) means of transport such as walking and biking. Not only can you borrow bicycles free of charge in certain parts of town, but many maps with walking and cycling itineraries can be found and new bike lanes are being created regularly.

A lot of work has been undertaken in recent years to clean up the lakes and rivers and reduce the levels of phosphates in the water. Although further efforts are still needed the quality of the water in most swimming areas around the lake is good.

Two major environmental bodies, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the World Conservation Union (IUCN) have their world headquarters near Geneva, in the small town of Gland. In Geneva itself offices of numerous other international and local environmental organisations are present and most of these are grouped under the Geneva Environment Network.