Instead of considering cuts to research funding and support for start-ups, the Confederation should invest more and accelerate the country's transition to renewable energies.
Warnings are coming from all sides. Whether from academic circles, the research world, start-ups active in cleantechs, or from associations and organizations that support them, a unanimous cry of alarm is being heard regarding the government's intention to reduce its expenditures.
As a reminder, Bern plans to reduce its budget by more than three billion as early as 2027, then by 4 billion three years later. To achieve this, it has drawn up around sixty measures covering all of its services—measures that threaten not only the future of Swiss innovation but also our ability to meet our climate commitments.
To save 400 million francs between 2026 and 2030, the Federal Council notably proposes to reduce funding for the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) by 10%. A similar reduction is planned for Innosuisse, one of the agencies that supports the country's young companies.
The consequences look disastrous, warn Swissuniversities (the umbrella organization of higher education institutions and universities), the ETH Board, the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), Innosuisse and the Swiss Academy of Sciences. For the SNSF alone, these federal proposals would lead to the cancellation of funding for 700 research projects and, potentially, the elimination of 2,000 positions intended for young researchers.
The start-up support organization, for its part, mentions a decrease of 30 million francs in the allocation intended for fledgling entrepreneurs. And these savings represent only the first two trees of a forest of measures that will impact the numerous research support mechanisms deployed within the federal departments and offices.
It is hard to deny: Bernese policy looks not only unfortunate but also counterproductive. In this logic of budget cuts, our Federal Councillors prefer to play with the future of our country and compromise its true strength: its brains. What a lack of long-term vision.
Switzerland nevertheless has a real card to play in the field of cleantechs and the energy transition. We host, in particular, more than 600 start-ups that strive to develop their ideas and technologies, offering our country the opportunity to make a name for itself on the international stage. After banking, pharma and watchmaking, cleantechs could become the new pillar of innovation and growth in Switzerland.
But that would require investing without delay, because we are not the only ones engaged in the race for clean energy. “Switzerland is playing a dangerous game, threatening to break in a few months a positive momentum that has lasted for nearly two decades,” laments Eric Plan, Secretary General of the CleantechAlps platform.
Betting today on a leading role for Switzerland in the energy transition will prove rewarding in the long term and will constitute a source of future prosperity.
Under normal circumstances, this ecosystem should be allowed to prove itself on its own, without financial intervention from the public sector. However, it is enough to read the latest IPCC report or follow current events to realize the urgency to act.
Contrary to what Avenir Suisse suggests in a recent position, it is not a question of increasing the role of the State—quite the opposite—but of accelerating the country's energy transition by supporting SMEs and start-ups active in the cleantech sector.
The good news is that Switzerland has the necessary resources to establish a more ambitious policy in the cleantech sector. On the international scale, its debt ratio is among the lowest in the world.
Of course, this does not mean completely letting go, and it is important to ensure that Switzerland retains control of its finances. It is essential to avoid finding ourselves in the situation of a country like France, today completely suffocated by an abyssal public debt.
However, a bit of fiscal flexibility would be wise in the face of the climate emergency. This approach is all the more justified given that, in the long term, ecological issues will also take on an economic dimension. Betting today on a leading role for Switzerland in the energy transition will prove rewarding in the long term and will constitute a source of future prosperity.
Current estimates put the value of the global cleantech market at around $2.5 trillion. Admittedly, such extrapolations should be taken with caution, but it is undeniable that renewable energy remains the only path forward. In Switzerland, we have this unique chance to have the means for our ambitions. So let's seize it and finally dare to take some risks.
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