Swiss minister: science will win the climate debate

Alain Berset, currently the Swiss interior and health minister. © Keystone / Salvatore Di Nolfi

At the opening of the world weather congress in Geneva, Swiss Interior Minister Alain Berset took aim at climate change sceptics.

“Times are tough for scientific evidence,” said Berset on Monday at the opening of the event hosted by the Geneva-based World Meteorological OrganisationExternal link (WMO).

However, he said, “those who spread the seeds of doubt” are unable to back up their claims, not least through the statements of “self-proclaimed experts”, and are flying in the face of evidence that climate change has been provoked by humans.

“Reason will win out in the end,” Berset said.

With over 60 million people directly impacted by extreme weather situations in 2018, and with Switzerland set to suffer more than average in future, he also called for a “strong” WMO that can succeed in its efforts to encourage nations to take the climate question more seriously.

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MeteoSwissExternal link, the federal office for meteorology and climatology, represents the country’s interests in the WMO and has contributed to various initiatives in recent years to improve access to data and expertise, particularly for developing country members with less resources.

WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas, also speaking on Monday, lamented that the drop in the organisation’s budget of 16% over the past decades makes such tasks harder.

The gathering is set to continue for almost two weeks, during which time various reforms to guide the WMO’s work over the next decade will be decided; notably, a new governance structure that will bring hydrometeorology and climate experts together around the same table.