Switzerland today

Dear Swiss Abroad,

Bern is a picture in white as I look out of the window. Snowfall does brighten up gloomy winter days and bring a faux festive cheer to those longing for the arrival of spring.

I hope you’re enjoying the weather wherever you are in the world.

© Keystone / Laurent Gillieron

In the news: Family firms, WEF speech, gas supply and superlaser

• Sixteen Swiss-based family businesses are among the world’s top 500External link, a figure that has remained stable over the past two years, according to the index published on Tuesday by consultancy firm EY Switzerland and the University of St Gallen. Pharma giant Roche was ranked 16th in the listing, as it was in 2021, while Kühne+Nagel moved up to 45th (2021: 66) and Richemont to 79th place (2021: 101).
• In his opening speechExternal link to the annual gathering of the World Economic Forum (WEF) on Tuesday, Interior Minister Berset, who holds the rotating Swiss presidency this year, said democratic institutions were being undermined and “the rule of law is under threat”. He warned that Russia’s attack on Ukraine was also against international law and multilateralism. Switzerland would do “everything possible” to strengthen these two values in the UN Security Council. 
• Germany has said that a proposed gas solidarity deal with Switzerland, to come into effect in case of shortages, should also include Italy. A bilateral gas solidarity agreement between Germany and Switzerland was first mooted during a meeting at WEF last May. The aim of the agreement was to prepare for any emergency situations, for examples critical infrastructure like hospitals suffering a severe gas shortage.
• A Swiss research team has been experimenting with using lasers to prevent lightning strikesExternal link on critical installations like nuclear plants and airports. A three-tonne laser was heliported on to the 2,500-meter-high summit of the Säntis peak. The superlaser can ionize air into plasma which is an electric conductor and can deflect lighting strikes in the thundercloud itself. It is a modern-day lighting rod. 

© Keystone / Goran Basic

Paying for caring: Elderly relatives and unpaid care 

In Switzerland, it is estimated that around 44% of residents over the age of 80 are in nursing homes or have professional carersExternal link at home. However, almost 600,000 people care for their relatives voluntarily without any financial compensation.

According to the charity Caritas, there is a risk that unpaid care can plunge relatives into poverty because they have to cut down or renounce work.  To avoid this situation, Caritas has started paying family members to care for their ageing relativesExternal link. Pilot projects in Lucerne and Zug offer CHF35 per hour to those who take on the responsibility. 

The charity estimates that it would cost CHF3.7 billion a year to compensate all relatives in Switzerland for their unpaid work.