Switzerland Today

Hello from Bern,

There’s snow in the city, which is a welcome weather change after days of gray skies and frozen rain. It may get harder for Switzerland to make good weather forecasts in the future however, due to its spat with the European Union. This week several Swiss media reported that SwissMeteo has been excluded from the “Destination Earth” project to create a digital replica of Earth using supercomputers and artificial intelligence.

Isabelle Bey, head of the SwissMeteo regional center in Geneva, told Swiss public television, RTS, that being excluded from this collaboration will have a “direct impact on weather forecasts in Switzerland in the medium and long-term”.

This content was published on December 9, 2021 - 18:00

5 minutes

Jessica covers the good, the bad, and the ugly when it comes to big global companies and their impact in Switzerland and abroad. She’s always looking for a Swiss connection with her native San Francisco and will happily discuss why her hometown has produced some of the greatest innovations but can’t seem to solve its housing crisis.

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In the News: Economic recovery delayed and assisted suicide case sent back to the court

Supply chain bottlenecks and uncertainty around how the pandemic will develop are weighing on the Swiss economy. Today, the Swiss economic expert group announced it has lowered its growth forecastExternal link from 3.4% to 3% for 2022. Inflation is also expected to rise, although moderately relative to many other countries. If there are no further severe pandemic-related restrictions such as lockdowns, the economic recovery is not expected to come to a standstill anytime soon.
The federal court has overturned the conviction of a former doctor who helped a healthy 86-year-old woman to die. The case raises many thorny legal questions that have yet to be resolved. The doctor argued that he agreed to the woman’s request for altruistic reasons as she wanted to die with her ill husband but Swiss law criminalises cases where assisted suicide is provided for selfish motives. The case has been sent back to be examined again by a court in Geneva.
The Senate has voted against making state contracts with vaccine makers public. Last week, the House of Representatives voted in favour of disclosure, arguing that it would strengthen public confidence. Public health advocates in Switzerland and elsewhere have argued that more transparency is key to accountability and would help ensure that vaccines are more evenly distributed. Industry and some parliamentarians have pushed back, saying that disclosing contracts would put the country at a disadvantage in negotiating new deals.

Even corporate executives can’t escape Covid quarantine

Credit Suisse Chairman Antonio Horta-Osorio had a rough morning after facing the media’s wrath over news that he breached quarantine requirements. Horta-Osorio apparently arrived in Zurich from the UK on November 28, four days after quarantine rules were introduced for travellers to Switzerland. He then boarded a private jet for the Iberian Peninsula on December 1, before flying on to New York later in the week.

Horta-Osario claimed he “unintentionally violated” Swiss rules and apologised for leaving “prematurely”. This might have been viewed as a simple blip or a case of a wealthy corporate executive thinking that the rules don’t apply to them.

But many media outlets saw deeper meaning, as Credit Suisse tries to repair its reputation after a series of scandals. The Financial Times didn’t miss the chanceExternal link to mention that the Portuguese-British banker “promised a clean sweep of culture at the scandal-plaguedExternal link bank” when he became chairman in May.

Bloomberg recalled a statement Horta-Osario made in July about the bank’s commitment to “developing a culture of personal responsibility and accountability, where employees are, at heart, risk managers”.

One compliance expert interviewedExternal link by Blick went as far as to call for his resignation, saying his days as “chairman are numbered”. As if that wasn’t enough, Inside Paradeplatz talkedExternal link about this as a pattern of risky behaviour that goes back years.

It looks like the offender may face a fine for disobeying quarantine rules. Ironically of course, if Horta-Osario had waited a few days he could have avoided the whole uproar. Switzerland rolled back its quarantine rules on December 4.

Switzerland is swimming with fish species, but problems remain under the surface

Switzerland is a land of mountains and lakes, so it isn’t too surprising that it’s a hot spot for fish species. Although it accounts for only 0.4% of Europe’s land area, it is home to almost 20% of fish species.

This is part of the results of the first systematic examination of fish populations. According to the “Projet Lac”, 106 fish species were detected in the country, many of which are only found here. Five of them weren’t even known to be in the country until now. Four fish species were found that were though to be extinct, including the char that lives at great depths in Lake Uri.

While this is positive news, fish species are threatened in many parts of the world. Swiss public television, SRF, cited statisticsExternal link that around a third of the world’s fish stocks are considered overfished. The other two thirds are on the verge of overfishing.

Fish consumption is on the rise, even in landlocked Switzerland. The Swiss eat some 170 grams of fish and crustaceans per capita per week, which is just under 9 kilos per year and almost double what it was in 1960. The biggest problem, writes SRF, is that only “a very small part of it comes from Switzerland”.