Tag Archives: environment

Switzerland’s agricultural sector costs the country CHF 19.9 billion while contributing only CHF 3.4 billion, concludes a study published by the think tank Avenir Suisse. © Denis Linine | Dreamstime.com The CHF 19.9 billion cost is made up of tax breaks and direct federal and cantonal payments to the sector (4.9b), the cost of artificially inflated consumer prices due to import restrictions (4.6b), environmental damage (7.3b), and the cost to export businesses (3.1b) from agricultural trade...

The idea is simple. Keep costs low by flying point-to-point, thus avoiding costly hubs, use one model of aircraft to contain pilot and aircraft maintenance costs, and charge passengers for everything from coffee to checked-in luggage. Southwest Airlines was first to launch the model and copycats like EasyJet followed. First transatlantic flight of an Airbus A321LR © Airbus Now a new, yet to be named, airline plans to offer direct flights from Basel-Mulhouse to cities in North America, with...

Farmers in Switzerland receive about CHF 2.7 billion in direct financial support annually. Total financial support by the federal and cantonal governments equals more than CHF 4 billion. But according to a report published by Zurich based think tank Avenir Suisse, this financial support constitutes just a minor part of the transfers from society at large to farmers, due to explicit and implicit subsidies, privileges, and—most importantly—negative externalities. A list of privileges...

Farmers in Switzerland receive about CHF 2.7 billion in direct financial support annually. Total financial support by the federal and cantonal governments equals more than CHF 4 billion. But according to a report published by Zurich based think tank Avenir Suisse, this financial support constitutes just a minor part of the transfers from society at large to farmers, due to explicit and implicit subsidies, privileges, and—most importantly—negative externalities. A list of privileges...

After a public consultation where 84% of 4.6 million people across the EU called for an end to daylight savings, EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said millions “believe that in future, summer time should be year-round, and that’s what will happen”. © Marekusz | Dreamstime.com The European Parliament said it is “crucial to maintain a unified EU time regime”. This would most likely mean Switzerland would also drop the practice, despite being outside the EU. In February 2017,...

This week, Bell, a Swiss meat processor, announced an investment in Dutch synthetic meat start-up Mosa Meat. A burger made from Cultured Beef Mosa Meat, a leader in the market of cultured beef, was co-founded by Mark Post of the University of Maastricht, who is considered to be the global pioneer in the production of cultured meat. Rather than a meat substitute, cultured meat is meat grown in vitro. Muscle cells are extracted from an animal and placed in a solution that feeds them and allows...

Swiss Rail has dropped plans to install Wi-Fi in its trains, according to the newspaper Le Matin. © Katie Nesling | Dreamstime.com - Click to enlarge After a survey revealed that customers would only use on-board Wi-Fi it was free, the company decided there was no justifiable way to cover the cost, according the the newspaper. Swiss Rail is not prepared to bear the costs the mobile operators would charge them for the...

Swiss Rail has dropped plans to install Wi-Fi in its trains, according to the newspaper Le Matin. © Katie Nesling | Dreamstime.com After a survey revealed that customers would only use on-board Wi-Fi it was free, the company decided there was no justifiable way to cover the cost, according the the newspaper. Swiss Rail is not prepared to bear the costs the mobile operators would charge them for the service and cannot not justify adding the cost to ticket prices. Someone has to pay and that...

For those who fly regularly, living close to an airport might be convenient, but it’s also noisy. © Ifeelstock | Dreamstime.com To reduce noise, Basel-Mulhouse airport has decided to reduce the number of flights taking off between 11pm and midnight by half, according to a press release. Unlike Geneva airport, which is located entirely on Swiss soil but still operates a French side, Basel-Mulhouse, Switzerland’s third major airport is on French territory, but run by the Swiss. The history of...

Comparing the most recent statistics on Swiss consumer inflation to those in 1993 reveals a steep drop in the percentage of spending allocated to food. © Tero Vesalainen | Dreamstime.com - Click to enlarge When statisticians calculate consumer price rises they look at the prices of a standard basket of goods. In 1993, food and non-alcoholic beverages made up 14.3% of the value of this standard basket. By 2018, the...