President Leuthard to travel to Denmark and Greenland and to Expo 2017
Bern, 02.08.2017 - President Doris Leuthard will travel to Denmark for a working meeting with Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen on Monday, 7 August. She will then travel to Greenland to hear about the impact of climate change in the Arctic from the local authorities and Swiss polar scientists. On Friday, 11 August, the president will attend Switzerland’s ‘national day’ at Expo 2017 in the Kazak capital, Astana.
The main topics to be addressed during the official talks in Copenhagen include bilateral relations between Switzerland and Denmark, particularly Switzerland’s policy towards the European Union and Denmark’s EU policy, as well as further European policy and international matters such as Brexit, the issue of migration and climate policy.
The Swiss president and the Danish prime minister will also discuss international cooperation on the Arctic. Switzerland was approved as an observer to the Arctic Council in May of this year. The Council’s members include the eight Arctic states of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Canada, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the USA, as well as representatives of indigenous peoples and specialised organisations.
Following her meeting with Mr Rasmussen, Ms Leuthard will travel to Greenland accompanied by Professor Konrad Steffen (Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL / ETH Zurich) and Professor Thomas Stocker (University of Bern) where she will visit the meteorological base station ‘Swiss Camp’ in West Greenland, where Swiss researchers have been gathering data on snow, ice and the atmosphere since the early 1990s. The effects of climate change are already particularly evident in Greenland.
World exhibition on ‘future energy’
President Leuthard will then travel to Kazakhstan where she will attend Switzerland’s ‘national day’ at the Expo 2017 in Astana on 11 August. The first world exhibition to be held in Central Asia has taken as its theme ‘future energy’ and is addressing the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energies. Switzerland is presenting its know-how and innovativeness in the field of energy efficiency and renewable energies using an interactive show at its ‘Flower Power’ pavilion.
Switzerland’s research centre has also been given a platform at the ‘swissnex Lab’. Following a keynote speech given by President Leuthard there will be a panel discussion on the Expo between actors from business and research. As part of Switzerland’s ‘national day’ at the Expo, she will pay a visit to Kazakhstan’s pavilion accompanied by a Kazakh delegation.
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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