Blog posts on sustainability

Malte Toetzke calls for more ambitious standards in the voluntary carbon offset market. While this would lead to fewer projects getting funded, the benefit for the climate would be greater overall. 

Innovative production technologies are crucial to the chemical industry’s net-zero endeavour – but they’re not always enough, says Paolo Gabrielli.

Gabriela Hug – an expert in power transmission networks – argues that securing an affordable energy supply from renewable sources is not a utopian ideal for Switzerland, but rather a practical and feasible necessity.

To decarbonize our economy, electricity will replace oil and natural gas as the primary energy carrier. Where should that power come from? Many people argue that all of it should be produced domestically. Careful analysis suggests some share of it should be imported, says Anthony Patt.

Political debate is vital for a functioning democracy. And when it comes to complex issues such as climate change, scientists should be able to share their expertise and help shape opinion, says Reto Knutti.

Focusing exclusively on new housing developments to counter the housing crisis is not sustainable, says David Kaufmann. His research group has been able to show that vulnerable persons are displaced to a much greater extent than previously thought in the Swiss canton of Zürich.

Europe’s energy transition will not succeed without access to essential metals like rare earths, says security researcher Julian Kamasa. Responsible mining and recycling of critical raw materials could help Europe reduce dependence on imports and meet its climate targets.  

Many regions have suffered from heatwaves in recent years. But exactly how these form is still a matter of debate. Two researchers at ETH Zurich have now found a nuanced answer.

Efforts to restore degraded ecosystems have so far fallen short of meeting global targets. Sound restoration must better incorporate social processes promoting equity in order to effectively benefit people, climate and biodiversity, says Sara Löfqvist.

There has been a great deal of media focus on the near-total lack of snow in Swiss ski resorts at the beginning of the year. Sonia Seneviratne explains why we will have to get used to this scenario and what needs to be done about it.