Alpine Politics

For more than 70 years, CIPRA has been working to promote sustainable policies for the Alps, looking ahead, putting tomorrow’s challenges on the political agenda and taking policymakers to task.

For a good life in the Alps, it is important to guarantee a balance between economic interests and the needs of the local populations and nature. CIPRA helps to bridge this gap on the political stage. The protocols of the Alpine Convention offer guidance. In combination with other tools, they empower the political actors to adopt appropriate measures.

The tools of Alpine policy

  • The Alpine Convention is an international treaty involving the countries of the Alps and the European Union. As co-initiator, CIPRA helped to create a fundamental requirement: an international political body for sustainable development and protection for the Alps. CIPRA contributes expertise in the Compliance Committee and the working groups.
  • As a mountain chain at the heart of Europe, the Alps are strongly impacted by the policies of the EU. The EU strategy for the Alpine Region (EUSALP) is being established to strengthen future cooperation between the Alps and the surrounding regions and cities. CIPRA and its partners are calling for civil society to be involved in this process.
  • In its core activities and beyond, CIPRA is working in national and transnational political bodies for a good life in the Alps.

CIPRA’s vision

  • A strong civil society
    Cities, municipalities, regions and countries of the Alps communicate their experiences and learn from one another. They involve the people in the planning processes and take account of the ideas and visions of young people. They set the framework conditions needed for all three pillars of sustainability – economy, nature and society – to be strengthened in equal measure.
  • A vibrant Alpine Convention
    The Alpine Convention provides a framework for these endeavours. It is an active clearing house. Keen use is made of its various platforms and working groups, while the Compliance Committee provides effective monitoring of observance of its provisions.
  • A responsible response
    The 14 million residents of the Alps can count on the solidarity of the 56 million people living in the surrounding regions – and vice-versa. All these people are aware of the special value of the Alps as a living space for human beings and the flora and fauna.

Alpine Convention

For more than 60 years, CIPRA has been working to promote sustainable policies for the Alps, looking ahead, putting tomorrow’s challenges on the political agenda and taking policymakers to task. More

Macroregional Strategy

The EU strategy for the Alpine Region (EUSALP) is to strengthen future cooperation between the Alps and the surrounding cities and regions. CIPRA and its partners are calling for civil society to be involved in the process. More

Sustainable development goals

In its Agenda 2030, the United Nations has formulated a total of 17 goals for sustainable development. What do they mean for the Alps? More

CIPRA's Positions

CIPRA regards it as one of its core tasks to comment on current topics and developments. Its broad support as an umbrella organisation with more than 100 member associations in the Alpine region justifies it. Please check the other language versions for more position papers!

cc.alps: CIPRA Demands on Spatial Planning
cc.alps: CIPRA Demands on Spatial Planning
The Alps are different. The Alpine range is characterized by special features that need to be taken into account in spatial development and climate protection.
cc.alps: CIPRA demands on transport
cc.alps: CIPRA demands on transport
Transport, in particular by car and truck, is one of the main causes of climate change. In the Alpine countries transport accounts for more than 25 percent of the release of greenhouse gases and is of special importance in the increase of these gases since 1990. A wrong development, running counter to the political objective to reduce exhaust emissions. In the Alps, the percentage of journeys made by car is higher than European average.
cc.alps: CIPRA Demands on Nature Protection
cc.alps: CIPRA Demands on Nature Protection
When climate changes, nature feels it. Mountain areas are particularly sensitive, and the greatest losses in terms of plant and animal species may occur precisely there. According to scientific estimates, almost every second plant species in the Alps is threatened with extinc-tion by 2100. For the flora with the highest number of varieties in Central Europe this would be an enormous loss. Because of global warming, also well-known animal species such as the Alpine ibex, the snow grouse and the mountain hare will experience far worse living con-ditions in the Alps.

News on Alpine politics

Lawsuits and laws for climate protection
Lawsuits and laws for climate protection
Climate protection laws define clear climate targets, but for many the measures set out are insufficient. Climate lawsuits are increasing political pressure in the Alpine countries.
Hidden CO2 emitters
Hidden CO2 emitters
Climate protection measures are expensive, which is why they are regularly criticised and rejected. How then can it be that at the same time the Alpine states are spending billions on environmentally harmful subsidies?
Alpine Policy 2023: the Slovenian-Swiss year
Alpine Policy 2023: the Slovenian-Swiss year
This year, Slovenia and Switzerland will play a decisive role in shaping international cooperation between states and regions in the Alps: Slovenia is taking over the presidency of the Alpine Convention, while Switzerland is the first non-EU country to chair the Eusalp, the EU Strategy for the Alpine Region.
No glacier marriage in Tyrol
No glacier marriage in Tyrol
Finally it’s official: the plans for the world’s largest glacier ski area are history. In November 2022, the Tyrolean federal state government rejected the planned merger of the glacier ski areas in Austria’s Ötztal and Pitztal valleys.

Point of Views of CIPRA

CIPRA's point of view:  60 years of CIPRA
CIPRA's point of view: 60 years of CIPRA
The International Commission for the Protection of the Alps, CIPRA, has reason to celebrate. On 5 May this umbrella organisation, containing some one hundred members from all countries in the Alps, will turn 60.
CIPRA's point of view:  Knowing how to shape the climate
CIPRA's point of view: Knowing how to shape the climate
We should discharge no more greenhouse gases than the natural systems in the Alps, such as forests or moorlands, can absorb - CIPRA's vision, set out in its annual report, argues for sustained climate protection.
CIPRA's point of view:  Water on!
CIPRA's point of view: Water on!
Austria's checklist for the building of hydroelectric power plants is technically sound, offering transparency for building permits, but no protection for ecologically intact waters.
CIPRA's point of view:  An appeal for the mountains
CIPRA's point of view: An appeal for the mountains
Bigger, faster, further: not even the mountains are immune to this mantra of growth. CIPRA France is thus seeking visions for a sustainable future for both people and mountains.