Federal Councillor Doris Leuthard meets British Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change in London
Bern, 23.10.2014 - Federal Councillor Doris Leuthard today held talks in London with Edward Davey, the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change. The two ministers discussed the national energy strategies of both countries, as well as negotiations on a globally binding climate protection treaty. The head of DETEC also spoke to a number of other senior British government representatives about current transport and environment policy issues.
At her first meeting, Federal Council Leuthard and Mr Davey discussed areas of common ground and differences in their respective national energy strategies. Both the UK and Switzerland are seeking to ensure energy security and low costs in a manner that is as compatible as possible with environmental and climate considerations. However, the two countries are taking different approaches towards achieving these goals. Switzerland plans to do this by phasing out nuclear energy, expanding the use of renewable energy and by improving energy efficiency. The UK, while also seeking to boost renewable energy and energy efficiency, is opting to build new nuclear power stations with state subsidies for construction and operation. A further topic of discussion was the design and effectiveness of national home improvement schemes. Since 2013, the UK has been running the Green Deal initiative, where the costs of making energy saving improvements are not subsidised by the state, but are instead covered by householders, who take out a loan from their energy supplier. Homeowners and tenants then repay the loan in instalments through their electricity bills.
The head of DETEC and the Secretary of State also discussed the importance of and the preparations for the climate protection treaty, which is planned for December 2015. The two countries share the view that all states should commit themselves under this treaty to reducing their greenhouse gas emissions from 2020. Switzerland and the UK also support the Green Climate Fund, whose resources are used to finance climate protection projects in developing countries.
The same subjects were also covered during a meeting with Julie Elliott, the Labour Party's Shadow Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change.
The meeting with Baroness Susan Kramer, the Minister of State for Transport, focused on dealing with increasing mobility on our road and rail networks. Here goods traffic in the TEN-T corridor will play a vital role. A further topic of discussion was traffic management using intelligent technology systems and instruments such as the heavy goods vehicle charge and mobility pricing. For example, the levels and flow of traffic in the centre of London have improved since the introduction of the congestion charge. DETEC is in the process of drafting a concept report on mobility pricing.
Ms Leuthard's last meeting was with Dan Rogerson, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Water, Forestry, Rural Affairs and Resource Management, where discussions focused on the two countries' policies on wastewater management, flood protection and biodiversity.
Address for enquiries
Communication DETEC, +41 58 462 55 11
Publisher
General Secretariat of the Federal Department of Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications; General Secretariat DETEC
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