Federal Councillor Doris Leuthard meets with UK Energy and Climate Minister Rudd in London

Bern, 11.02.2016 - In the course of a two-day working visit to London, Federal Councillor Doris Leuthard held talks with UK Energy and Climate Minister, Amber Rudd and with Robert Goodwill, Minister of State at the Department of Transport. She also opened Cleantech Innovate 2016, at which Swiss companies were able to present their products.

Federal Councillor Doris Leuthard and UK Energy and Climate Minister Amber Rudd primarily discussed the implementation of the climate protection agreement adopted in Paris in December 2015. They expressed the shared view that the globally applicable accord sends a strong signal at political and economic levels, and will trigger investments in climate-friendly technologies. The two ministers welcomed the close cooperation between the business and scientific communities, such as that seen at the Cleantech Innovate event. Innovation will be essential in order to attain the target declared in Paris of limiting the increase in global temperatures to a maximum of 2 degrees. The ministers went on to discuss various aspects of climate financing.

Further talks focused on national energy strategies. Both countries want a secure and low-emission energy supply, but the UK currently faces the challenge of having to replace many of its ageing nuclear and coal-fired power plants within the space of a few years. The focus of attention is on wind, gas-fired and nuclear power plants. Unlike Switzerland, the UK is only able to import a low quantity of electricity because the capacity of the necessary undersea cables is limited. Increased energy efficiency is a goal shared by both countries, and here the focus is on closer cooperation on making buildings more energy efficient.

Yesterday, Robert Goodwill, Minister of State at the Department of Transport, and Federal Councillor Doris Leuthard jointly identified mechanisms for financing transport infrastructure. They also discussed ways of dealing with the increasing mobility on the roads and railways, the European rail corridors and the issue of traffic management with the aid of financial instruments such as the distance-based heavy vehicle fee and intelligent technologies and systems such as mobility pricing. 

Federal Councillor Leuthard also attended Cleantech Innovate 2016 (see box below), at which foreign companies were able to participate for the first time, with six Swiss companies reaching the final round. In her opening speech, Federal Councillor Leuthard underscored the need for more efficient energy use and called for an increase in the use of renewable energy, pointing out that clean technologies could play a decisive role in reducing global CO2 emissions.

BOX 

For the past three years, Cleantech Innovate has been presenting the best clean technology innovations from the UK, Ireland and Switzerland. It is open to start-ups and companies with highly promising innovations in the categories of renewable energy, energy management, cross-sector innovation (transport, agriculture and green buildings) and efficient use of resources. At this year’s Cleantech Innovate, 163 companies applied to participate, and 36 finalists were selected for the event held on 11 February 2016, including six Swiss companies: ABB Secheron SA, Airlight Energy, Bluetector, Climeworks, Designergy SA, InnovaRadio SA.


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General Secretariat of the Federal Department of Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications; General Secretariat DETEC
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Swiss Federal Office of Energy
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