Switzerland Environment - 2024

Environment - current issues

air pollution from vehicle emissions; water pollution from agricultural fertilizers; chemical contaminants and erosion damage the soil and limit productivity; loss of biodiversity

Environment - international agreements

party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Heavy Metals, Air Pollution-Multi-effect Protocol, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protection, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Marine Dumping-London Protocol, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 2006, Wetlands, Whaling

signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Climate

temperate, but varies with altitude; cold, cloudy, rainy/snowy winters; cool to warm, cloudy, humid summers with occasional showers

Land use

agricultural land: 38.7% (2018 est.)

arable land: 10.2% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 0.6% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 27.9% (2018 est.)

forest: 31.5% (2018 est.)

other: 29.8% (2018 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 74.2% of total population (2023)

rate of urbanization: 0.79% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Revenue from forest resources

0.01% of GDP (2018 est.)

Revenue from coal

0% of GDP (2018 est.)

Air pollutants

particulate matter emissions: 8.97 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)

carbon dioxide emissions: 34.48 megatons (2016 est.)

methane emissions: 4.98 megatons (2020 est.)

Waste and recycling

municipal solid waste generated annually: 6.056 million tons (2016 est.)

municipal solid waste recycled annually: 1.938 million tons (2015 est.)

percent of municipal solid waste recycled: 32% (2015 est.)

Major lakes (area sq km)

fresh water lake(s): Lake Constance (shared with Germany and Austria) - 540 sq km; Lake Geneva (shared with France) - 580 sq km

Major rivers (by length in km)

Rhein (Rhine)  river source (shared with Germany, France, and Netherlands [m]) - 1,233 km
note – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth

Major watersheds (area sq km)

Atlantic Ocean drainage: Rhine-Maas (198,735 sq km), (Black Sea) Danube (795,656 sq km), (Adriatic Sea) Po (76,997 sq km), (Mediterranean Sea) Rhone (100,543 sq km)

Total water withdrawal

municipal: 970 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

industrial: 640 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

agricultural: 160 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

Total renewable water resources

53.5 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)