1. Federal Department of the Environment,
Transport, Energy and Communications DETEC
Federal Office for the Environment FOEN
Tsinghua University, 25 June 2015
Green Economy
A Need for our Planet – an Opportunity for
Switzerland…
…and maybe for China as well
Dr Bruno Oberle
Director of the Federal Office for the Environment FOEN, Switzerland

2. 2Green Economy | Dr Bruno Oberle
Planetary Boundaries and
the Safe Operating Space for Humanity
Source: Rockström et al. (2009)

3. 3Green Economy | Dr Bruno Oberle
Pressure on Natural Resources
100%
120%
140%
160%
180%
200%
220%
240%
260%
280%
300%
1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025 2030 2035 2040 2045 2050
Global GDP
World population
2050 = 422 %
Sources:
Population: UN-ESA 2010 (scenario„medium“)
GDP: Worldbank 2012, UNEP 2011 (BAU scenario)
Global trends: GDP, Population
1990=100 %
2050 = 9.3 bn

4. 4Green Economy | Dr Bruno Oberle
Consequences of Inaction
Destabilising Climate Change
Source: OECD, 2012
GHG emissions by region: Baseline, 2010 to 2050

5. 5Green Economy | Dr Bruno Oberle
Consequences of Inaction
Mass Extinction of Species
Source:
OECD, 2012
Effects of different pressures on terrestrial MSA: Baseline, 2010 to 2050

6. 6Green Economy | Dr Bruno Oberle
Consequences of Inaction
Increasing Freshwater Shortages
Global water demand: Baseline, 2000 and 2050
Source:
OECD, 2012

7. 7Green Economy | Dr Bruno Oberle
Consequences of Inaction
Increase in Premature Mortality
Source: OECD, 2012
Global premature deaths from selected environmental risks:
Baseline, 2010 to 2050

8. 8Green Economy | Dr Bruno Oberle
Resource Overuse
Ecological Footprint in Number of Earths
Source: Global Footprint Network; Ecological Footprint in number of earths
World:
Switzerland:
China:

9. 9Green Economy | Dr Bruno Oberle
Ecological Overshoot in 2014
Note: Overshoot Day in terms of the biocapacity of the countries/regions
Source: Global Footprint Network/WWF Living Planet Report 2012
20152014
19.08.2014
Earth Overshoot Day
End of March
Swiss Overshoot Day
End of May
China’s Overshoot Day
Mid-July
Overshoot Day
high-income countries
Ecological BALANCE
low-income countries
Mid-November
Overshoot Day
middle-income countries

10. 10Green Economy | Dr Bruno Oberle
Source: Frischknecht et al. (2014)
Local Consumption – Global Impact
In 2011, about 73 % of the
total environmental impact
arising from final demand in
Switzerland accumulates in
other countries – due to
imports.

11. 11Green Economy | Dr Bruno Oberle
Swiss Environmental Impact
by Area of Consumption
0.00 1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 5.00 6.00
nutrition
housing
private mobility
health care
recreation, culture
restaurants, hotels
other goods
education,…
residual public final…
clothing
million UBP per capita, per annum
domestic environmental impact
environmental impact abroad
~ 70 % nutrition,
housing, mobility
Source: ESU services Ltd./Rütter+Partner (2011)

12. 12Green Economy | Dr Bruno Oberle
Resource Consumption and Prosperity
A Fatal Relationship
Sustainability
quadrant
China
Cuba
France
Germany
India
Mexico
Norway
Qatar
Russian Federation
Sri Lanka
Switzerland
United Arab Emirates
United States
-
2.00
4.00
6.00
8.00
10.00
12.00
- 0.200 0.400 0.600 0.800 1.000
Human Development Index
EcologicalFootprint
World biocapacity per capita
Veryhigh
humandevelopment
Sources: Ecological Footprint 2007: www.footprintnetwork.org, Human Development Index 2012: UNDP

13. 13Green Economy | Dr Bruno Oberle
Resource Consumption and GDP/Capita
Switzerland
Resource use in terms of the ecological footprint expressed as number of Earths; Source: www.footprintnetwork.org
Real GDP per capita: chained values, reference year 2005; Source: SECO (2014), FSO (2012)
0%
50%
100%
150%
200%
250%
300%
350%
400%
450%
1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 2030 2040 2050
Resourceuse
Resourceuse(linear extrapolated)
Real GDPper capita
Real GDPper capita (linear extrapolated)

14. 14Green Economy | Dr Bruno Oberle
We Need a “Wedge”
Resource use in terms of the ecological footprint expressed as number Earths; Source: www.footprintnetwork.org
0%
50%
100%
150%
200%
250%
300%
350%
400%
450%
1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 2030 2040 2050
Resourceuse
Resourceuse(linear extrapolated)
1. Technology
4. Political power
5. Solidarity
2. Investment
3. Sustainable finance
6. Communication/networking

15. 15Green Economy | Dr Bruno Oberle
Volatility of Resource Prices
Source: McKinsey (2013)

16. 16Green Economy | Dr Bruno Oberle
Investments in Natural Capital
Appenzell, Switzerland

17. 17Green Economy | Dr Bruno Oberle
Investments in Cleantech
Production of high-grade steel from scrap metal
at a Swiss steel factory
Picture:
FOEN

18. 18Green Economy | Dr Bruno Oberle
Infrastructure Investment Requirements
Source: WEF, 2013

19. 19Green Economy | Dr Bruno Oberle
Investment Needs for Sustainable
Development in China
Source: People’s Bank of China, UNEP, 2015

20. 20Green Economy | Dr Bruno Oberle
Business Opportunities
Markets for Environm. Technology & Resource Efficiency
Global volume 2013 (in billion Euro)
Source: BMUB cites Roland Berger, 2014

21. 21Green Economy | Dr Bruno Oberle
Global average annual growth 2013 – 2025
Business Opportunities
Markets for Environm. Technology & Resource Efficiency
Source: BMUB cites Roland Berger, 2014

22. 22Green Economy | Dr Bruno Oberle
Business Opportunities: Financial Sector
Trillions of
Dollars of
investments
needed for a
green and
inclusive
economy
globally
Swiss Financial
Center with
pioneers in the
field of
Sustainable
Finance

23. 23Green Economy | Dr Bruno Oberle
Source: Swiss Banking
Business Opportunities: Financial Sector
Private Banking Switzerland

24. 24Green Economy | Dr Bruno Oberle
Innovative Capacity
Global Innovation Index 2014
Quelle: www.globalinnovationindex.org/, 2014

25. 25Green Economy | Dr Bruno Oberle
Innovative Capacity
Innovation Union Scoreboard 2014
Source: EC, 2014

26. 26Green Economy | Dr Bruno Oberle
Global Cleantech Innovation Index 2012
Source: Cleantech Group/WWF, 2012

27. 27Green Economy | Dr Bruno Oberle
Global Cleantech Innovation Index 2014
Source: Cleantech Group/WWF, 2014

28. 28Green Economy | Dr Bruno Oberle
Cleantech in Switzerland
Employment and Value Added in 2013
Source: EBP, 2014
Absolute Market Share
Employees in FTE 530‘000 13.5 %
Gross Value Added [CHF] 48.6 bn 8.0 %
Export Value [CHF] 40.5 bn 5.5 %

29. 29Green Economy | Dr Bruno Oberle
International Initiatives

30. 30Green Economy | Dr Bruno Oberle
Popular Initiative «Green Economy»
Picture:
Swiss Green Party

31. 31Green Economy | Dr Bruno Oberle
Revision of the Environmental
Protection Act (EPA)
Measurement &
Reporting
Green Economy Platform
Long-term goal: significant reduction
of environmental impact
Regulation already useful and
necessary:
 waste and raw materials
 consumption and production

32. 32Green Economy | Dr Bruno Oberle
EPA Revision: Political Process
2013: Federal Council decides EPA revision
2013: Consultation process
2014: Dispatch of EPA revision to parliament
2017: EPA revision in force?
Currently: Revision discussed in parliament
…

33. 33Green Economy | Dr Bruno Oberle
Green Economy Policy
2013: Report and Action Plan
Priority areas Measures Lead
Consumption and
production
M 1: Resource-efficient ICTs DETEC
M 2, 3: Food waste/nutrition EAER
M 4, 5, 6: Information on products and product ranges DETEC
M 7: Releasing products in the market DETEC/EAER
M 8, 9: Coordination with the economy DETEC/EAER
M10: Competence centre for resource efficiency DETEC/EAER
M11: Enterprise resource efficiency improvement network DETEC/EAER
Wastes and raw
materials
M 12 – M 18 DETEC/DDPS
Cross-cutting
instruments
M 19, 20: International commitment FDFA/DETEC
M 21: Cleantech Master Plan EAER/DETEC
M 22: Green the tax system FDF/DETEC
Targets, monitoring,
information, reporting
M 23 to 27 DETEC/FDHA