Over 30 tools for future climate risks in Switzerland

Context

TL;DR

• More than 30 tools for future climate risks
• NCCS-Impacts started in 2022
• Five projects, more than 100 people involved
• About 9 million francs allocated

Key facts

• Programme → NCCS-Impacts
• Launch → 2022
• Products → more than 30
• Projects → 5
• People involved → more than 100
• Organizations → more than 20
• Funding → approximately 9 million francs
• Presentation → October 29, third Swiss Climate Forum

More than 30 products have been developed as part of NCCS-Impacts, the National Centre for Climate Services programme launched in 2022 and now coming to an end. Scenarios, models and digital tools were developed to assess the effects of climate change on forests, agriculture, water and health.

The project aims to enable policymakers, public administrations, the economy and society to identify climate risks at an early stage and take them into account in planning. It thus brought together scientific knowledge and applications for various areas of life in Switzerland, without focusing on a single sector.

A programme of the federal legislative period

The programme brought together non-governmental organizations, companies, research institutes and Federal Offices, as well as other partners, with the task of examining the consequences of climate change, filling knowledge gaps and developing solutions that could be used in practice.

The Confederation reports that collaboration between public administration, the scientific community and practitioners made it possible to gain a deeper understanding of the effects of climate change on ecosystems, infrastructure, the economy and health. The same work also addressed possible options for action.

Christian Hofer, who chairs the NCCS Directors’ Conference and heads the Federal Office for Agriculture, summarizes the programme’s starting point as follows: “Effective adaptation to climate change requires reliable basic knowledge.” According to Hofer, the new knowledge has been transformed into concrete tools to better manage the consequences of climate change and lay the foundations for a resilient Switzerland.

Operational details

From climate risks to sector-specific tools

A framework spanning multiple sectors

The program’s central characteristic is the breadth of the sectors analyzed. The source describes new socioeconomic scenarios together with digital applications that make it possible to move from general risk assessment to assessments relating to forests, agriculture, water and health.

The comparison between these tools shows a plurality of uses. For forests, the result concerns the compatibility between tree species and habitats. For agriculture, the focus is on yields. In the water sector, by contrast, the application considers nutrient loads; in healthcare, the solutions include a tool for managing hospital admissions and maps dedicated to the risk associated with urban heat islands.

In Switzerland, the effects of warming are already tangible: the various heatwaves, record temperatures and marked drought of the record-breaking summer of 2026 highlighted the simultaneous impact on multiple sectors.

Falling river and lake levels, together with high temperatures, affected water resources and navigation. During the same period, agriculture and forests suffered from drought, while the heatwave put people and animals under severe strain. The program therefore uses tools targeting different phenomena, which the Confederation considers part of a cross-sectoral framework.

Another result concerns the quantification, for the first time, of the costs of certain climate risks and the related adaptation measures. This wording is limited to certain risks and measures: the source does not present an overall cost of climate change for Switzerland, but points to a method for measuring certain components.

These elements explain the relationship between scientific scenarios, planning and decision-making. The applications are not presented solely as collections of data: according to the Confederation, they should help policymakers, public administrations, the economy and society recognize risks in a timely manner and develop targeted adaptation measures.

Key points

Funding, collaboration and dissemination of results

A network between administration and research

A total of approximately 9 million francs was made available for the five projects and coordination.

More than 100 people from over 20 organizations took part in the work. The programme therefore brought together public administration, scientific institutes, businesses, non-governmental organizations and other partners. The Confederation attributes to this collaboration a deeper understanding of the effects of climate change on ecosystems, infrastructure, the economy and health, as well as an analysis of intervention options.

The NCCS-Impacts website brings together the results of the completed programme. The products will be presented on October 29 at the third Swiss Climate Forum, where they will be discussed with representatives of public administration, research, the economy and professional circles.

The forum thus constitutes the occasion identified by the source for presenting the applications and comparing them with practitioners in the relevant sectors. It is not described as a single project, but as the conclusion of a programme comprising five projects and more than 30 products, including scenarios, models and digital tools.

According to the Confederation, the body of knowledge gathered should help to better understand the effects of climate change, identify risks in good time and develop targeted adaptation measures. The need is linked above all to the increase in extreme weather events.

The source therefore presents the work carried out as a basis for decision-making in future planning. The results include applications for forests, agriculture, water and health, a quantification of the costs of certain risks, and tools for dealing with periods of heat. Their stated function is to support more informed decisions by institutions, the economy and Swiss society.

Source: tio.ch