Political positions of CIPRA International
Schaan Memorandum on the Future in the Alps
The future belongs to those who shape it. In the Alps countless initiatives involving thousands of activists are working to do just that. Yet many are unaware of the fact that elsewhere other people are working on precisely the same problems as they are. This is where the Future in the Alps, a project launched by CIPRA, the International Commission for the Protection of the Alps, comes into play. The scope of the project is to collect practical experience throughout the Alps, classify it and make it available to those who need it. It consists of a phase of collating knowledge and good projects, called alpKnowhow, a phase of processing and disseminating it, called alpService, and an implementation phase, called alpPerformance. CIPRA itself is not a research body, nor is it an educational institution; it is a non-governmental organisation, so it is mainly concerned with the questions of what the results of alpKnowhow mean politically and what demands can be derived from these results. To answer these questions CIPRA representatives from seven countries convened in Schaan/Liechtenstein on 8 and 9 December 2006. The demands and political conclusions on all topics are set out in the present Schaan Memorandum on the Future in the Alps.
Resolution: Climate Protection and Climate Change Adaptation Strategies
The Alpine region is particularly affected by global climate changes, many of which are the result of man’s impact. The Alps are a particularly sensitive region and are affected all the more by the forecast changes such as the rise in annual average temperatures, the increase in extreme meteorological events, summer droughts and melting glaciers. It is CIPRA’s view that climate change represents one of the 21st century’s greatest challenges. Given the above it calls upon the European Union, the bodies of the Alpine Convention, all the Alpine states, the federal provinces, regions and cantons as well as all governmental and non-governmental authorities .. to intensify their climate protection efforts in order to reduce the greenhouse effect; .. to draw up sustainable strategies for dealing with the growing repercussions of climate change.
Resolution on the role of local government and administration in sustainable development
At a conference on the Role of Local Governments and Administrations in Sustainable Development held in 2005, representatives of the mountain regions of Central Asia, the Caucasus, the Carpathians, the Alps, the Altai and Mongolia adopted a resolution with recommendations aimed at managers involved in the development of mountain areas. In it they called for an exchange of positive experience between different mountain regions, education in sustainable development as a condition for active participation, and also for research and the transfer of technology and methodology. The resolution also contains concrete recommendations on decentralisation and reliable dialogue structures as a basis for sustainable development, sustainable economic development, and the role of local governance in the management of natural resources. It also underscores the importance of information and the role of women in sustainable development. Finally it sets out conditions for the effectiveness of alliances and conventions.
News on Alpine Politics
Kaspar Schuler, CIPRA International
Point of view: European elections 2024: why a Swiss citizen would also like to vote
Switzerland’s referendum-based democracy has pitfalls of its own when it comes to environmental and climate policy. There needs to be an overarching corrective, such as neighbouring countries have in their constitutional courts and through the legal institutions of the EU, says Kaspar Schuler – as a Swiss citizen and Executive Director of CIPRA International.
Michael Gams, CIPRA International
Climate protection becomes a human right
A legal milestone for climate protection: on 9 April 2024, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ruled that Switzerland is violating the human rights of older women because the country is not doing what is necessary to combat global warming.
Nora Leszczynski, CIPRA International
The Youth Parliament to the Alpine Convention campaigns for Alpine protected areas
A limited number of entrance tickets for protected areas, the designation of infrastructure-free zones and an excursion to protected areas anchored in the curriculum: the 18th Youth Parliament to the Alpine Convention (YPAC) focused on Alpine nature reserves. For the first time, there was also an exchange with the CIPRA Youth Council.
Michael Gams, CIPRA International
The urban exodus and the climate
Many mountain regions in the Alps are affected by out-migration. However, climate change is also causing some people to migrate – at least temporarily – from the cities to the mountains, as an Italian research project shows.
Standpunkte der CIPRA
alpMedia
Point of view: The mountains do not grow to heaven
Mountains and valleys do not grow bigger - at least not in the human timescale. Yet our appetites grow from day to day. Sooner or later we will have to adapt our consumption of natural resources to their availability. We had better decide freely for a more modest life before we are forced to do so, demands Claire Simon.
alpMedia
Point of view: the enlightened Olympics-free Alps
The referendum decisions against "Munich 2022" and "Graubünden 2022" prove that the Olympic spirit is dead. Simply not everyone has yet noticed.
alpMedia
CIPRA's point of view: Co-operation, not killing
The authorities in Graubünden are demanding that bears be shot in Italy before they cross into Switzerland and potentially cause problems there. Is a preventive shooting really suitable to prevent conflicts with humans?