Some Environmental Programs in Switzerland

Abstract

As a result of the fact that Switzerland is about seven times more densely populated than the USA (and even more if the uninhabitable area is taken into account), that the gross social product per area unit is also about seven times greater, and that the traffic density per area unit is about four times greater than in the USA, many environmental problems are particularly accentuated. Given es key words: Population limitation, space planning, traffic density, public transport, the energy problem, environmental economy and legislation, water conservation, air hygiene, agricultural adaption, maintenance and development of the mountain areas. Today, about $ 1000 millions or $ 160 per inhabitant are spent annually in Switzerland on environmental protection, about half of it from public funds and half by private industry. As Switzerland is small, many tasks are carried out on a private basis, or semi-officially. Approximately $ 750 millions (or $ 120 per inhabitant) are spent annually in Switzerland on research, about $ 150 millions by public bodies and about $ 600 millions by industry (chemical industry about $ 400 millions).

Applied research is traditionally carried out mainly in the field of water conservation (e.g. the problem of eutrophying by phosphates) and, in industry, into the side effects of chemical products. In addition, a series of institutes is concerned with the task of supervision, carrying out measurements in connection with, for example, lead, mercury, halogenated and non-halogenated organic compounds, and inorganic gases such as carbon monoxide and sulphur dioxide. The results obtained by analytical institutes at the universities and in industry also partially benefit environmental research. For legislation, reference is also made to the results of research in other countries, which are evaluated for this purpose in various places.