GLP leader calls for national water and cooling strategies

Green Liberal Party President Jürg Grossen has called for national strategies on water management and cooling as Switzerland faces record heat, according to an interview with SRF. He also accused Environment Minister Albert Rösti of being too slow to implement environmental measures.

Temperatures are breaking records, some glaciers have melted completely and water shortages are causing problems in parts of the country, Grossen said. He described seeing landscapes resembling dry savannahs and said that mountains he had known since childhood were now bare of glaciers and snowfields.

Grossen said Switzerland needed additional multifunctional water reservoirs, particularly in areas where glaciers are melting. Water from snowmelt and heavy rain often runs off unused and is then unavailable during dry periods, he said. The reservoirs could retain water for drinking supplies, agriculture and electricity production and release it when needed.

He also called for national water management because Switzerland did not know who was using how much water, where and when, he said.

For cities, Grossen proposed a national cooling strategy. He said cooling had so far been neglected and that people who could afford it installed individual air-conditioning units. These cool rooms but release heat into the cities, he said. Instead, he called for central cooling networks similar to district heating systems. Heat pumps could produce cooling in summer while making useful use of the waste heat, he said.

Grossen said Rösti recognised climate change but was hesitant to implement measures. He cited the right to install charging facilities for electric cars in rented properties as an example. Parliament had approved the measure, but Rösti was taking more than a year to set up the legislation, Grossen said.

Asked about Switzerland producing more solar power than ever, Grossen said the current expansion was the result of policies from previous years. The trend was already declining again, he said. He added that the government was currently not achieving the expansion targets for renewable energy approved by voters and was not using its room for manoeuvre.

Grossen rejected the suggestion that demanding faster renewable energy expansion while defending environmental groups’ right to appeal was contradictory. He said the Green Liberals had never supported an appeal against a wind or hydropower project and had helped significantly restrict the right of appeal in Parliament. They did not want to suspend it entirely, however, in order to prevent arbitrary proceedings.

Grossen, an electrical planner and entrepreneur from Bern, has led the Green Liberal Party since 2017 and has represented it in the National Council since 2011.