Society

Facing the Climate Crisis Head-On Cities and Councils as Active Leaders for Change vis-à-vis the Climate Crisis

October 1, 2020 / Edouard Laurent

On October 1st 2020, the Embassy of Switzerland in Israel together with Life & Environment hosted the Webinar: “How can cities achieve sustainable urban development? A talk between Israel and Switzerland”. The Webinar explored approaches and initiatives undertaken by Swiss cities towards mitigating the effects of the impending climate crisis and the myriad of challenges entailed therein. In a series of three conversations, senior Swiss decision-makers and key figures from the Israeli climate arena examined best practices at the municipal and inter-city level. Below please find the highlights of the three conversations with Hebrew subtitles.

Part 1: “Smart City” Basel: An Energy-positive Approach to Urban Development. A conversation between Lukas Ott, Director of Urban Development, Basel and Eitan Ben Ami, Director of the Environmental Authority, Tel Aviv.

Part 2: Geneva’s Support for Grassroots Sustainability Initiatives. A Conversation between Nadine Allal, Project Manager Agenda 21 – Sustainable City, Geneva and Ela Alexandri, CEO of MIU (Movement for Israeli Urbanism)

Part 3: Energy City: A Voluntary, Bottom-Up Alliance and Certification Mechanism for Sustainable Municipalities. A conversation between Maren Kornmann, CEO of the Energy City Association (Energiestadt) Switzerland and Jeremy Ben Shalom, Representative of the Israeli Environmental Movement in the National infrastructure Planning Committee

Lessons From Pandemia

Under the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic, Swiss philosopher and environmentalist Dr. Augustin Fragnière examines what we can learn from the Corona-Crisis for tackling the far more dangerous climate emergency. Can the very immediate perils of Covid-19 teach us how to adapt to the abstract yet enormous threat of climate change? Or is the pandemic […]

Swiss National Day

Please find Ambassador Jean-Daniel Ruch’s greetings for the Swiss National Day 2020. Things are still different and very challenging these days. We invite you all to take this fact as an opportunity to reach out together toward a healthier planet and like this toward a healthier future for all of us.

The glaring differences between the concerted global efforts to combat the COVID-19 epidemic and the lackluster efforts to avert a global climate catastrophe have become apparent to everyone. Likewise, the effects of social distancing measures on greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants have been extensively covered by the press. However, even if we leave aside […]