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CIPRA Positions

  • cc.alps: CIPRA's demands for agriculture

    Teaser

    The agricultural sector is directly affected by climate change impacts but it also contributes to the release of greenhouse gases (GHG) and rising concentrations of GHG in the atmosphere. A sustainable climate response strategy in the field of agriculture involves anticipating, planning and long-term thinking from farm level to transnational level. Prominent fields of activity are sustainable land and soil management, sustainable water management, managing manure and soil carbon as well as organic agriculture as an overall strategy. As agriculture is a highly subsidized economic sector, subvention policy can be used as a lever to guide the sector to sustainability and climate neutrality.

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  • Only climate-friendly tourism is sustainable: cc.alps - CIPRA’s demands for tourism in climate change

    Teaser

    Climate change is a major challenge to Alpine tourism. It has to adapt to climate change and at the same time become more climate-friendly. There is a particularly large potential for reduction of CO2 emissions in the key areas of traffic and energy. Tourism is a branch of the economy which is heavily subsidized. Therefore public policy can and must direct developments towards sustainability through the support given to tourism. The present discussion about developments in the tourism industry is dominated by the large chair lift companies which are essentially fixed on ski tourism and the maintenance of the status quo. But focusing only on snow and skiing means promoting a capital-intensive, highly technological form of Alpine tourism and a monoculture. This is neither climatologically nor environmentally sustainable.

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  • cc.alps: CIPRA Demands – Energy self-sufficient regions

    Teaser

    Not having to depend on energy imports: this vision holds great fascination for many regions. Self-sufficiency is “in.” There are already many very positive approaches and examples of attempts to go down this road. At the heart of all the concepts is the idea of meeting demand through regional renewable sources of energy, saving energy and using energy more efficiently. Anyone who systematically takes this approach in an attempt to create an energy self-sufficient region changes the face of their region and its structures – to the benefit of their own economy, society and the environment.

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  • cc.alps: CIPRA Demands on Spatial Planning

    Teaser

    The Alps are different. The Alpine range is characterized by special features that need to be taken into account in spatial development and climate protection.

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  • cc.alps: CIPRA demands on transport

    Teaser

    Transport, in particular by car and truck, is one of the main causes of climate change. In the Alpine countries transport accounts for more than 25 percent of the release of greenhouse gases and is of special importance in the increase of these gases since 1990. A wrong development, running counter to the political objective to reduce exhaust emissions. In the Alps, the percentage of journeys made by car is higher than European average.

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  • cc.alps: CIPRA Demands on Energy

    Teaser

    In order to limit global warming, first of all it is important that we use energy more efficiently. Yet this will not be enough for operating in a way that climate can sustain. We must radically change our energy consumption and our consumption of energy-intensive goods and services. Experience shows that consumption only goes down when clear political signals are sent - which include legislative initiatives, rewarding energy saving and punishing waste. The switch from fossil to renewable energies must be forced - but not to the detriment of nature. Biomass production, the installation of wind power turbines and new hydroelectric power stations in the Alps hide many potential conflicts. The environmental, social and economic consequences of climate projects must be carefully assessed and compared.

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  • Resolution of Bolzano

    Teaser

    "During this conference CIPRA expressed its strong expectations with regard to the outcome of the 15th Conference of the Contracting Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, to be held in Copenhagen in December 2009. Further more, CIPRA calls upon the governments of the Alpine countries and upon those of the main industrialised countries, to show extraordinary commitment to achieve a distinct acceleration in climate change prevention policies at the global meeting in Copenhagen, in the light of new evidence and the confirmation of the seriousness of the phenomenon."

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  • Action Plan on Climate Change in the Alps

    Teaser

    The Action Plan following the Ministers' Declaration of Alpbach rests on the joint commitments taken by the Alpine countries which fall under the Framework Convention on climate change and the Kyoto Protocol. This Action Plan is part of the ongoing discussions to reach a comprehensive and ambitious post-2012 agreement and takes into account the commitments made in this regard by the European Union. Its aim is to go beyond the general framework to offer concrete measures that are specific to the Alps by promoting, both in terms of mitigation and adaptation, themes and measures that could be the subject of regional co-operations in the frame of the Alpine Convention, and by taking into account actions that are already in place on a national, regional and local level. The Action Plan on Climate contributes to both the global effort aiming at reducing greenhouse effect following international commitments by the Contracting Parties and to the quality of life of Alpine populations for present and future generations.

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  • Factsheet to the „Eurovignette III“

    Teaser

    The International Commission for the Protection of the Alps (CIPRA International) very much welcomes the fact that the EU now intends to set a course that reflects the true costs of transport and is taking a first step by amending Directive 2006/38/EC ("Eurovignette III"). The Directive must also relieve the burden on the Alpine region, which is particularly sensitive ecologically and whose population has to bear particularly high external costs; it must also contribute more to sustainability in freight transport. One important step is a sound directive on transport infrastructure costs, i.e. one that includes the efficient and consistent allocation of all relevant costs. Everyone stands to benefit from its success: the population, with a healthier, safer and better quality of life, and the transport industry, with more reliable transit routes. Indeed, the risks affect the local population as much as they affect those travelling through.

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  • Resolution: Climate Protection and Climate Change Adaptation Strategies

    Teaser

    The Alpine region is particularly affected by global climate changes, many of which are the result of man’s impact. The Alps are a particularly sensitive region and are affected all the more by the forecast changes such as the rise in annual average temperatures, the increase in extreme meteorological events, summer droughts and melting glaciers. It is CIPRA’s view that climate change represents one of the 21st century’s greatest challenges. Given the above it calls upon the European Union, the bodies of the Alpine Convention, all the Alpine states, the federal provinces, regions and cantons as well as all governmental and non-governmental authorities .. to intensify their climate protection efforts in order to reduce the greenhouse effect; .. to draw up sustainable strategies for dealing with the growing repercussions of climate change.

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