Swiss mountains are increasingly under threat

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Switzerland drops in global climate protection rankings. Landslides and floods will soon no longer be the exception. But normalcy.

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In June 2023, the village of Brienz/Brinzars in canton Graubünden had just escaped again. An avalanche of debris from Mount Linard stopped almost at the edge of town, allowing evacuated residents to return to their homes. The peace did not last long. Over the weekend, the village was evacuated again, this time perhaps for good.

Because the slope began to slide again, Brienz was moving downhill as well. An emotional meeting took place in Tiefenkastel on Tuesday to discuss where the people of Brienz should be resettled. Most want to move to another mountain village, which until recently was threatened by landslides.

In June 2023, the avalanche stopped near Brienz (GR). Now residents face the threat of an eventual end. Image: trapezoid

You can understand the attachment of people in the mountains to their hometown. But such tragic stories will become more frequent in the future. Experts say the rockfall in Brienz (GR) has nothing to do with climate change. Slopes and villages have been in motion since ancient times. This is of course true.

Year of the Storm 2024

However, there is also speculation that 2024 will be a rainy year with some heavy rainfall, leading to accelerated mudslides. This year, heavy rains have caused serious damage in many places, especially in the mountainous areas: in the Saas Valley (VS), Misoks (GR) and in many places in Ticino.

The “other” Brienz on the lake named after it in the Bernese Oberland was also affected. On August 12, a severe thunderstorm caused the Milibach River to overflow. Part of the village was destroyed and the Brienz-Rotterhorn railway, popular with tourists, had to cease operations. Hopefully it will be back up next summer.

Almost no country is immune

In 2005, Brienz (BE) was destroyed by a storm. Two people died at the time. Since then, flood control efforts have increased significantly, but new damage has occurred. Less than 20 years later, the so-called “disaster of the century” happened again. This time two people were injured and about 70 people were evacuated.

Storm disaster in cantons Ticino and Valais

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Storm disaster in cantons Ticino and Valais

The collapsed Visletto Bridge near Cevio in the Maggia Valley on Sunday, June 30, 2024 in southern Switzerland.

Topic: keystone / Michael Buholzer

Is this all just a coincidence? You can see it like this. But as early as 2023, Europe experienced a year of extreme weather including heat waves, floods and retreating glaciers. This year's results may be even worse. Few countries have been spared from violent storms this year, with the disaster in Valencia a tragic highlight.

Threatened 'water castle'

Experts have long warned that extreme weather events are increasing as the climate warms. In some cases, the warnings didn't work, but heavy rain is often difficult to predict. This especially affects Switzerland, Europe’s proud “water castle”. It is particularly at risk from flash floods and floods.

Global warming of the word “comfort” is linked not only to heat waves and melting glaciers, but also to the melting of permafrost in the Alps. In Brienz (GR) it clearly didn't work, the village was too deep. But for Kandersteg, the hometown of Adolf Ogi and Albert Rösti, Spitzstein became a threat.

questionable compensation

Brienz (BE) and Brienz (GR) are just the beginning. Such cases will continue to increase. Yet within a year, Switzerland had slipped 12 places to 33rd in the NGO climate protection rankings, like a mountainside destabilized by melting permafrost.

One might question the significance of this ranking, but Switzerland is by no means a model when it comes to climate protection. The expansion of solar energy is positive, but it lags in other areas. To do this, she tried to get a CO₂– Compensating emissions from foreign projects, including problematic projects such as those in Ghana, West Africa.

Costly climate damage

Climate protection is also a money issue. It’s a well-known and irritating response that people shy away from the associated costs and ignore how expensive it is to undo climate damage. In this case, the mountains call for the solidarity of Swiss cities. You have benefited from them today.

Huge amounts of compensation and subsidies flow from the central region to the mountainous areas. We have paid a huge price for national cohesion. Even now, the federal government, states and insurance companies are showing generosity to victims of natural disasters. But after the evacuation of the tenth and twentieth villages, will the situation still be the same?

principle of hope

In Brienz/Brinzars, the canton of Graubünden is building a drainage tunnel at a cost of 40 million francs, from which the village may no longer benefit. It is argued that this is also important when relocating, as landslides also threaten the Rhaetian railway line, various roads and power lines.

This may be true, but there is no guarantee that these 40 million will not be needlessly “emptied”. What would happen if there were more cases like this? And there will be more and more such people. Today, such issues are ignored. It's better to find someone to blame and rely on the principle of hoping you'll be spared.

Of course, the climate crisis is a global issue. But we must deal with the human and economic consequences. Double Brienz reminds us of this.