Political positions of CIPRA International

Alps without Olympics: CIPRA’s demands concerning Olympic Winter Games
CIPRA International believes that, given the present situation, the Olympic Winter Games should no longer be held in the Alps. The Alps should remain the Olympic-free zone they have been since 2006. As they currently stand, the Olympic Winter Games are neither environmentally nor socially acceptable. CIPRA is therefore opposed to the Winter Olympics being staged in the Alps – or anywhere else – in their current form. Developments in recent decades show that the mountain regions are no longer suitable venues for these environmentally harmful and ruinous major events. Referendums held in the Canton of Grisons and in Munich prove that large segments of the population of the Alps are no longer willing to shoulder the burden of Olympic Winter Games.

Transport sufficiency: Towards a new sustainable mobility culture
CIPRA Position on the mobility of goods and people in the Alps

CIPRA International
Appeal: Climate change mitigation now!
An appeal from the Alpine municipalities and their inhabitants to the participants of COP 21
News on Alpine Politics

Michael Gams, CIPRA International
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.

Andreas Radin, CIPRA International
Unsuitable landscapes for energy production
The results of a recent survey from Switzerland are clear: no to energy production in almost unspoilt mountain areas. Intensively used areas around ski resorts or existing power plants would be better suited to the expansion of renewable energy.

Caroline Begle, CIPRA International
Alpine towns – key to sustainable development
The ninth Report on the State of the Alps, entitled “Alpine Towns”, was presented as part of the Swiss presidency of the Alpine Convention. It sheds light on how the Alpine settlement system hinders – or helps – the sustainable development of the Alps.

Michael Gams, CIPRA International
Alliance for climate-neutral Alpine transport
Seven of eight signatory states to the Alpine Convention today signed a progressive action plan for climate-neutral mobility by 2050 in Brig/CH. CIPRA International contributed to the almost two-year development of the action plan with proposals for the “Simplon Alliance”.
Standpunkte der CIPRA

Point of view: The tourism dilemma
Travel threatens the very values upon which tourism in the Alps depends, creating a real dilemma. Sustainable mobility in tourism is not simply a competitive advantage, but a “must”, states Barbara Wülser, deputy director of CIPRA International.

Point of view: Skiing, adieu!
Winter is here and in many ski resorts the snow cannons are running at full blast. Yet the number of skiers is in decline, making it hard to justify the immense investments made with the aim of expanding ski areas. It is time to realise that skiing is not a business model with a future, says Katharina Conradin, President of CIPRA International.

Point of view: Municipalities as drivers for sustainable development
Sustainable development cannot be prescribed by law: it needs local people to put it into effect. Municipalities have a key role here, says Jean Horgues-Debat, the newly elected President of CIPRA France.