Author: switzerlandtimes.ch

In Switzerland, more and more timber is being burned. According to the Federal Statistical Office, nearly half of all wood harvested from Swiss forests is now used for energy—twice the share recorded two decades ago. The proportion processed in sawmills for construction or carpentry has declined over the same period, falling from 70% in the early 2000s to just 46% today. The shift reflects a combination of policy and economics. Over the past 20 years, the wood-energy sector has steadily expanded. The push for renewable energy sources and favourable pricing have made wood for heating an attractive market—particularly for forest…

Switzerland has found itself on the sharp end of Washington’s latest tariff barrage. On August 7th, a 39% levy on Swiss imports is set to take effect—one of the steepest rates imposed by the United States in a sweeping round of trade measures ordered by President Donald Trump. The tariffs follow the expiry of a deadline for countries lacking a formal trade agreement with America. The White House’s newly published list assigns Switzerland the fifth-highest rate globally, after Brazil (50%), Syria (41%), and both Laos and Myanmar (40%). Within Europe, no country faces harsher treatment. The move caught Bern off…

Switzerland’s push for renewable energy has met with resistance. Late last week, a nature conservation group submitted two popular initiatives aimed at curbing the expansion of wind farms, reported RTS. Each has garnered over 110,000 signatures—above the 100,000 signature threshold required to trigger a nationwide vote. The first, dubbed the Forest Protection Initiative, seeks to restrict the installation of wind turbines in wooded areas. Its backers argue that erecting a single turbine typically requires clearing land equivalent in size to a football pitch. “Cutting down green space to protect the climate is an absurd contradiction,” declared the initiative committee, noting…

The Swiss National Bank (SNB) reported a first-half loss of CHF 15.3 billion, dragged down by foreign-currency positions that turned sharply negative in the second quarter. After posting a profit of CHF 6.7 billion in the first three months of the year, the central bank recorded a loss of CHF 22 billion between April and June—wiping out earlier gains and then some. The result was broadly in line with expectations. Some economists had forecast second-quarter losses of between CHF 17 billion and CHF 27 billion. Much of the damage came from a weakening US dollar. The SNB holds around CHF 300 billlion in dollar-denominated assets, whose…

Switzerland’s federal institutes of technology—ETH Zurich and EPFL in Lausanne—have announced plans to launch a large language model (LLM) of their own. Unlike most of its peers, this one will be public, open-source and led by ethics and science. It is expected to be released later in 2025. Developed under the Swiss AI Initiative, launched in December 2023, the project pools resources from over 10 Swiss institutions. The new Swiss National AI Institute is coordinating the project, which draws on more than 70 AI researchers from ETHZ and EPFL. Training of the system will be done on the new Alps…

Swiss retail endured a bruising first half of 2025. Sales between January and June fell by an estimated 1.9% compared with the same period last year, according to the Swiss Retail Federation, which analysed debit and credit card transactions. Physical stores bore the brunt, with revenues dropping 2.2%, while online sales eked out a modest 0.8% gain, reported SRF. The sharpest declines hit non-essential categories. Spending on leisure goods, hobbies, toys, clothing, footwear, and Switzerland’s famed watches and jewellery all tumbled. Only food sales held steady, as households curbed discretionary purchases. Cross-border shopping tourism is partly to blame. In the…

Proton, the Geneva-based encrypted email provider founded 11 years ago by three scientist who met at CERN, will freeze its investments in Switzerland, its chief executive Andy Yen told Le Temps on Wednesday. The company, best known for its privacy-first services, accuses Switzerland of edging towards becoming a surveillance state. The dispute centres on two draft ordinances updating rules on communications monitoring. The measures would compel encrypted messaging providers, including WhatsApp and Proton, to identify users and store their data, handing it over to authorities upon request. Such obligations clash with the core selling point of firms such as Proton…

On 10 July 2025, Switzerland’s Federal Office of Transport (FOT) announced government plans to subsidise new international rail services, with priority given to a planned Basel–Copenhagen–Malmö night train. The FOT will provide CHF 10 million a year between 2025 and 2030 to promote cross-border passenger rail, especially night services, following a mandate from the federal government and parliament. Swiss Rail applied for funding this spring. The FOT has approved 1.2 CHF million this year for preparatory work on the EuroNight connection, which is expected to run three times per week in each direction from April 2026. Over its first five…

Ticino is testing an unusual weapon against an unwelcome visitor: the Asian tiger mosquito. The insect, which can spread dengue and chikungunya fever, is abundant in the canton. Local researchers are now deploying sterilised males to curb the population, reported SRF. The method, first trialled in Morcote in 2024, proved highly effective, cutting mosquito numbers by over 90% in the isolated lakeside community. This year the project has expanded to more open areas, including a 12-hectare zone around a hotel complex and school in Losone in the canton of Ticino. Field teams from the University of Applied Sciences and Arts…

The Arolla campsite, perched 1,950 metres above sea level in the Val d’Hérens in the canton of Valais, is to close permanently, the authorities announced on 13 July 2025. The site, which draws around 12,000 overnight stays each year, has been deemed unsafe after repeated mudslides and flooding. The decision, taken by the Valais government, overrides objections from the campsite’s operators, who had hoped to keep the site open during the summer while zoning maps were revised. The municipality of Evolène, which oversees the region where the campsite is located is now seeking an alternative location. The campsite, a former…