Detailed studies have been conducted on the direct economic impact that climate change will have on central European countries. However, a more important issue facing countries such as Switzerland and Germany, with their extensive global networks, is the additional impact that climate change will have in the future via foreign trade.

Once the air force will have moved from Buochs Airport in the Canton of Nidwalden, it shall be opened for civil use. The project brings up many questions. INFRAS examined them in depth and lead as well as moderated through the process with its political actors.

Greenhouse gas emission reduction projects of different countries can only be assessed, compared and plausibly certified when applying international valuation standards. This is a precondition for well-functioning crediting mechanisms, by which effective projects are awarded with tradable certificates. This is one of the conclusions reached by INFRAS, in cooperation with other climate experts, in a report commissioned by the Swedish Energy Agency.

An energy-saving target agreement with the Swiss Federal Government, a share of more than 5% electricity costs per gross value added, and a refund amount of at least CHF 20'000 per year: Under these conditions, large commercial or industrial end users are entitled to a refund of their national network supplement for the promotion of renewable energies.

Since 1990, Switzerland has strongly extended and consolidated its mix of measures of energy policies and climate policies. This approach has proven successful. While our greenhouse gas emissions would have risen (1990 to 2030: +6%) without the necessary influence of energy political and climate political measures, we can now expect a decline in emissions (1990 to 2030: -17%) due to the implemented and continuous measures. At the same time, however, it has become evident that there is still a need for action if the targeted reduction of -30% shall be achieved (target 2030 in comparision to 1990).

Regarding the housing market, transport or the environmental impact, immigration involves many challenges. However, for Swiss cities in particular, advantages are clearly predominant. On the one hand, immigration has a positive influence on the labour market, research and the economic power. On the other hand, immigration increases social diversity, enriches the culture and stimulates social innovations.

A new report of the Swiss Federal Council on civil aviation policy shall indicate where the future challenges of the civil aviation policy are to be expected. In this context, INFRAS has created an update of the first report «Civil Aviation and Sustainability» which was published in 2008. The updated assessment shows the following conclusions:  - With respect to the economic dimension, the trends may largely be regarded as positive. A main future challange are capacity restrictions at national airports.  - With regard to the environment dimension, despite the facts that improvements have been made, deficits continue to exist, primarily relating to noise and impacts on the climate.  - In the social dimension, the assessment is mixed: while safety and security are viewed positively, there are still some deficits regarding public health and options for residential development in the vicinity of the national airports.

In 2014 Zurich Switzerland launched the Zurich Climate Prize for Switzerland & Liechtenstein for the second time. Projects are awarded which either make an effective contribution to reducing CO2 emissions or which lead to an improvement of energy and resource efficiency or to behaviour changes. The Zurich Climate Prize focuses on the following three categories: buildings & housing, production & consumption and transport & mobility. A total of 108 projects were submitted and seven winners awarded. The municipality of Hohentannen won the first prize for its project GemeindePOWER.INFRAS supported Zurich in the conceptual design and implementation of the Climate Prize. All information are availabe on klimapreis.zurich.ch.

Deep geological repositories (and their surface facilities respectively) have economic, ecological and social impacts on a siting region. These need to be identified objectively and as early as possible. It is with these objectives in mind that the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) commissioned a socioeconomic and ecological study in 2011 for all the six potential siting regions. INFRAS, together with Rütter Soceco and Ecosens, carried out the expert study. Now the final report of the study is available containing the following results:Economy: The more the construction and civil engineering as well as the metalworking sectors are represented in a region, the more added value, employment and, as a consequence, tax income are to be expected when a deep geological repository is constructed. Regions with a comparatively high proportion of sensitive sectors (tourism and agriculture), however, suffer a potentially negative impact from the presence of a deep geological repository. Environment: The highest impact concerning surface facilities arise in regard to consumption of land, crop rotation areas, excavated material as well as wildlife corridors. There is a low or no impact at all in regard to protected areas and ground water protection zones as these areas have been excluded on the basis of the site location process already. Society: The more the settlement area is dense, the aspired settlement growth is high and the surface facilities are well visible, the more a site is appraised as being negative. However, if there is industry and commerce represented in the vicinity of the site already the appraisal is less negative.All documents: www.bfe.admin.ch/soew