contents
A smudged Van Gogh painting, spilled milk and blocked roads – in the “Arena” the guests not only discussed the intensified form of climate protests, but also what measures should be taken to counteract climate change.
Climate activists are increasingly resorting to more drastic means to draw attention to the urgency of the climate crisis.
In October, for example, members of Renovate Switzerland blocked traffic several times by sticking themselves to the asphalt with glue. The so-called resistance campaign is demanding a plan from the Federal Council to insulate one million houses by 2040.
Selina Lerch is also part of this civil resistance. “I don’t enjoy disturbing people,” she says. But she has no other choice, politicians do not take their responsibility seriously.
“We only have a very small window of time to get the situation under control and at the moment things are moving too slowly.” The criticism was aimed directly at the four politicians in the group.
For SVP National Councilor Michael Graber, however, such actions are illegal and counterproductive: “These climate extremists commit crimes. For me, they’re petty criminals.” That is untenable in a constitutional state in which means are available to convince people with arguments.
The problem of climate change is “existentially threatening” for civilization, emphasized Juso President Nicola Siegrist. The activists are not radical. It was radical that for forty years we simply watched “how we drive unchecked towards the abyss”.
If Siegrist has his way, massive investments should now be made in climate protection and independent energy supply. This should not be paid for by the general public, but by those who profited from the crisis: “Those who have made billions in recent years and are still blocking climate protection today, such as banks or oil refineries.”
Various solutions to protect the climate
When it comes to the climate, you always have to talk about energy, said Vanessa Meury, President of the Swiss Energy Club. «The Energy Strategy 2050 has failed. The main problem is the lack of electricity in winter,” she complained.
Nuclear power plants are a safe source of electricity.
The Swiss Energy Club therefore wants to lift the legal ban on new construction of nuclear power plants. In this way, nuclear power plants of the newer generation could be built, which, according to Meury, are indispensable as a safe source of electricity.
Nuclear energy supplies the amount of base energy that renewable energies cannot adequately guarantee in a CO₂-neutral manner. This is the only way to stabilize the network. The primary goal must be security of supply.
Green National Councilor Aline Trede sees things differently. There are no investors at all for new nuclear power plants because they are no longer profitable. Instead, Trede advocated investing in new technologies: “Our energy consumption can be covered with efficiency measures and the expansion of renewable energies.”
While the guests were divided at the beginning of the program as to whether actions such as Renovate Switzerland blocking traffic made sense or were illegal, politicians from the left and right camps also criticized each other for causing traffic jams – not on the streets, but in climate policy.