Cleantech
Pioneering policies in environmental protection have made Switzerland a leading location for the development and marketing of clean-technology products and services worldwide. Strict norms governing the Swiss market ensure an excellent chance of securing entry into export markets.
Switzerland enjoys an image as an eco-friendly country where care for the environment has become part of everyday life. It boasts an outstanding record in a variety of fields from recycling and waste management to transport and landscape planning, and has long been committed to sustainable policies governing the use of natural resources.
Proof comes in the form of Yale's Environmental Performance Index (2020), which compares 180 countries across a range of criteria from air and water quality to biodiversity and policies to tackle climate change. Switzerland tops the list.
Cleantech covers a variety of technologies, manufacturing processes and services that help to preserve the environment. This fast-growing sector finds that Switzerland, with its proven credentials and strict environmental norms, offers an ideal location for the development and marketing of cleantech products and services in the global marketplace.
The cleantech cluster
- It covers fields from the sustainable management of natural resources to the reduction of emissions, recycling, renewable energy, water quality and environmentally friendly forms of transport.
- There are important clusters throughout the country, including the Zürich and Basel areas, around Lake Geneva, in Valais, the St. Gallen-Bodensee area and in Ticino.
Switzerland is pioneer
- Switzerland has long been a pioneer in the development of hydroelectric power. The Valais accounts for about 30% of Switzerland’s production.
- Switzerland’s universities and research institutions are at the forefront of the drive to meet global challenges including climate change, depletion of natural resources and environmental pollution.
Quality of life
- Zürich, Bern and Geneva all rank among the world’s top-ten cities for quality of life – with environmental criteria a major factor.
Venues for events or visits
- Various environmentally friendly transport facilities making interesting site visits and event venues – from city trams to cable cars and funiculars in the mountains and solar-powered boats on Lake Geneva.
- A number of hydroelectric power facilities welcome organised groups. The spectacular Grimselwelt hydropower complex in the heart of the Alps incorporates a network of dams, reservoirs and power stations, with their associated cable cars and funiculars; various sites offer a dramatic setting for events.
- Guided visits of renewable power stations (hydro, biomass), drinking water purification plants, and waste processing and recycling facilities are possible through Energie Zukunft Schweiz.
Solar Impulse
- Switzerland is home to Solar Impulse, the most ambitious solar airplane ever devised. In 2015, engineers aimed to complete the first circumnavigation of the earth by a piloted fixed-wing aircraft using only solar power.
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