Reports · GCRI · Country profile
Switzerland 2026
Switzerland
Switzerland (Schweiz, Suisse, Svizzera) enters 2027 with 9.13 million residents, and people aged 65 or over (about 1.81 million) now outnumber those under 20 (about 1.80 million). Its risks come from mountains and from water.
- Findings
- 12
- each with its status and source
- Sectors with findings
- 5 of 6
- Infrastructure not assessed
- Risk objects
- 4
- order carries no rank
- Sources
- 62
- Evidence close 30 September 2026
01 · Readings
Switzerland in six readings.
Six readings that frame the Switzerland baseline, and the eight questions this edition answers, each with its status and source.
02 · Sectors
Six sectors, one hexagon.
Water first, then Energy, Infrastructure, Food, Health and Biodiversity. Each count is the findings of this edition in that sector: coverage of the evidence, never a score. Infrastructure is not assessed: the edition holds no Infrastructure finding and its coupling matrix does not assess it.
- WATWater1 finding
≈20% Monitoring stations at a record low for the season, 1 April to 31 July 2026, 2026. □Reported
Source of Alpine rivers; 97% of people use safely managed drinking water; record-low flows and lakes in 2026.
- ENEEnergy2 findings
−22.5% Change in domestic hydropower output, 2025 on 2024, 2025. □Reported
Hydropower 55.5% and nuclear 27.2% of generation; all gas imported; reservoirs low in July 2026.
- INFInfrastructurenot assessed
Rail, road and river navigation depend on water levels and stable slopes; wider networks not mapped.
- FOOFood1 finding
Not bound FSO and FOAG · blocker: official release not opened Self-sufficiency rate of food supply, n/a. ·Not bound
Farm and pasture stress in 2026; self-sufficiency rate not bound.
- HLTHealth1 finding
326 deaths Heat-attributable deaths, May to September 2024, 2024. □Reported
Heat deaths 326 in 2024 and 542 in 2023; people aged 65+ outnumber under-20s.
- BIOBiodiversity1 finding
7% Forest area designated as protected area, 2022. □Reported
About a third of species and nearly half of habitat types threatened; 7% of forest protected.
Outside the six sectors: Climate forcing 4, Finance 1, Systemic 1.
03 · Hazard exposure
The hazards this edition reads.
The edition’s own risk objects, in its order, each read across driver, exposure, vulnerability, capacity, cascade and horizon. The hexagon marks the sectors the cascade reaches; the domain beside each is an editorial reading of its hazard words.
RSK-CHE-CLI-001
Dry year with low reservoirs and low river flows
□ReportedEQL 4
- Driver
- snow deficit, dry spring and heat across the Plateau and the Alps
- Exposure
- hydropower, river and lake levels, pastures, forests
- Vulnerability
- winter import dependence; thin groundwater monitoring [22]
- Capacity
- reservoir storage reported weekly [8]; reserve status not bound
- Cascade
- CLI → WAT → ENE, FOO, BIO, FIN
- Horizon
- 1–5 years
RSK-CHE-CLI-002
Rock, ice or debris avalanche above a settlement
□ReportedEQL 3
- Driver
- rock failure, glacier load and permafrost change
- Exposure
- Alpine villages, roads, rail and power lines
- Vulnerability
- settlements in the run-out zone; a scenario of 5 million m³ is analysed [24]
- Cascade
- CLI → WAT → INF, FIN
- Horizon
- annual
No domain reading
RSK-CHE-HLT-003
Heatwave load on health services and older residents
□ReportedEQL 3
- Driver
- hotter summers and tropical nights
- Exposure
- cities and Ticino, which was particularly affected in 2024 [17]
- Vulnerability
- ageing population [2]
- Capacity
- heat-mortality monitoring runs to July 2026 [17]
- Cascade
- CLI → HLT → ENE peak
- Horizon
- seasonal
RSK-CHE-ENE-004
Prolonged winter power shortage
▲InferredEQL 2
- Driver
- low reservoirs, import limits and plant outages
- Exposure
- households, industry, rail, health facilities
- Vulnerability
- winter demand above domestic generation
- Capacity
- national risk analysis treats a 30% shortfall for 12 weeks [24]
- Cascade
- ENE → all
- Horizon
- seasonal
No domain reading
Scenario · SCN-CHE-DRT-01
Dry year with low reservoirs and low river flows
Under this scenario, results describe a conditional season under stated assumptions. It is not a forecast, and no intervention described here has been carried out.
2 of 12 findings name a hazard in their text. Show them
- 1CLI → WATsnow deficit and dry spring lower rivers, lakes and groundwater
- 2WAT → ENEhydropower falls; 2025 output was down 22.5%
- 3ENE → FINimport needs and exposure to foreign supply rise in winter
- 4WAT → FOOpastures and farm liquidity strained; CHF 54 million in loans offered
- 5CLI → BIOforests and streams under stress; dead trees were 7.2% to 15.4% of trees by region
- 6CLI → HLThot, dry summers raise heat deaths
04 · Couplings
How the sectors carry risk into each other.
The Switzerland matrix types the twenty couplings between the five core systems. Strengths are Nexus estimates from the cited evidence and analogue events; they set the starting graph that the Q1 2027 Foundry cut will test.
| From | WAT | ENE | FOO | HLT | BIO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WAT | · | Strong | Moderate | Moderate | Strong |
| ENE | Moderate | · | Moderate | Strong | Moderate |
| FOO | Moderate | Weak | · | Moderate | Strong |
| HLT | Weak | Weak | Weak | · | Weak |
| BIO | Strong | Weak | Strong | Weak | · |
Water: 4 couplings out, 4 in; Energy: 4 couplings out, 4 in; Food: 4 couplings out, 4 in; Health: 4 couplings out, 4 in; Biodiversity: 4 couplings out, 4 in. Infrastructure is not in the coupling matrix: none of the edition matrices types it, so it carries no value.
Cascade paths, in the edition’s order
- CLI → WAT → ENEa snow-poor winter and dry spring lower rivers and reservoirs and cut hydropower□Reported
- CLI → WAT → FOOdrought strains pastures and farm liquidity□Reported
- CLI → INFglacier and rock failure above a village destroys homes and roads□Reported
- CLI → HLThot summers raise deaths among older people□Reported
- ENE → FINlow hydropower raises import needs and exposure to foreign supply▲Inferred
05 · Findings
Every finding of Switzerland.
Search, filter by sector, system or status, and sort. The address bar keeps the view, so a filtered list can be shared. Every row opens the finding at its source.
All 12 findings
| ID | Edition | Sector or system | Status | Statement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CLI-001 | Switzerland | CLI Climate forcing | □ Reported | Greenhouse-gas emissions were 40.1 MtCO₂e in 2024, 27.3% below 1990 and 22.3% below when land use is included; transport emitted 13.4 MtCO₂e and international aviation and maritime a further 5.5 MtCO₂e outside the 2030 target. |
| CLI-002 | Switzerland | CLI Climate forcing | □ Reported | The second contribution sets a cut of at least 65% by 2035 on 1990 as a 2031–2035 budget of 106.8 MtCO₂e, and the Climate and Innovation Act, adopted by 59.07% of voters in 2023, sets net zero by 2050. |
| ENE-003 | Switzerland | ENE Energy | □ Reported | In 2025 hydropower supplied 55.5% of domestic electricity generation, nuclear power 27.2% and photovoltaics 11.8%, and final electricity consumption was 57,970 GWh. |
| ENE-004 | Switzerland | ENE Energy | □ Reported | Hydropower output fell 22.5% in 2025 after a record 2024, and reservoirs stood at 46% in mid-July 2026, 16.4 points below the 20-year average; reservoirs can cover about 20% of winter-half demand. |
| WAT-005 | Switzerland | WAT Water | □ Reported | Between 1 April and 31 July 2026 about one-fifth of monitoring stations recorded their lowest level for the period since measurements began, and Lake Zurich reached its lowest level since 1951 on 19 August 2026. |
| FOO-006 | Switzerland | FOO Food | □ Reported | The Federal Council offered CHF 54 million in interest-free operating loans to farm businesses after the 2026 drought, and the contribution text sets a goal that domestic production covers at least 50% of food needs. |
| CLI-007 | Switzerland | CLI Climate forcing | □ Reported | On 28 May 2025 the Birch Glacier collapsed under about 3 million m³ of rock debris, buried most of Blatten and caused one death; insured damage was put at CHF 255 million. |
| CLI-008 | Switzerland | CLI Climate forcing | □ Reported | Glaciers lost almost 3% of their volume in 2025 and about a quarter since 2015, and the contribution states that glaciers have lost over 65% of their volume since 1850. |
| HLT-009 | Switzerland | HLT Health | □ Reported | Heat-attributable deaths were 623 in June to August 2022, 542 in May to September 2023 and 326 in May to September 2024. |
| FIN-010 | Switzerland | FIN Finance | □ Reported | GDP grew 1.4% in 2025 and inflation was 0.2%, and the IMF assessed the debt brake as appropriate while noting that the shift to a low-carbon economy will raise spending needs. |
| BIO-011 | Switzerland | BIO Biodiversity | □ Reported | About a third of species and nearly half of habitat types are threatened, and 7% of forest area was protected by 2022 against a federal goal of 10% by 2030. |
| SYS-012 | Switzerland | SYS Systemic | ◎ Expert input | The leading compound pathway for 2027 testing is a dry year with low reservoirs and low river flows that cuts hydropower and raises winter import dependence at the same time as farm and forest stress. |
06 · Editions and calendar
The desks’ editions for Switzerland.
| Desk | Edition | State | Identifier |
|---|---|---|---|
| GCRI Systems Evidence | Switzerland 2026 | Drafted, in stewardship review | NR-COUNTRY-CHE-2026-BASELINE-v1.0.0 |
| GRF Public Deliberation | Public Deliberation: Switzerland 2026 | In preparation | |
| GRA Capital Readiness | Capital Readiness: Switzerland 2026 | In preparation | |
| Standards Progress | No edition in the 2026 Baseline cycle | Not in this cycle | |
| Academy Capability | No edition in the 2026 Baseline cycle | Not in this cycle | |
| Index Measurement | Measurement: Switzerland 2026 | In preparation |
Calendar · 2026 Baseline
- 01Call opensset by the editor
- 02Contribution closeset by the editor
- 03Evidence close30 September 2026
- 04Desk review and releaseset by the editor
- 05Collection compilationset by the editor
- 06Collection releaseset by the editor
- 07Correctionsafter release, as needed
Evidence cut NQ-CHE-2026-Q0-1. Next cycles: Q1 2027, Q2 2027, Q3 2027, Q4 2027; their dates are set by the editor.
07 · Take part
Read it, improve it, cite it.
- ReadThe edition, chapter by chapter, with every source.
- ContributeSend evidence, a source or a method before the next cut.
- ReviewJoin the stewardship review of this edition.
- CiteAPA, Chicago, BibTeX, RIS and the house style, as a draft.
- PDFThe signed PDF is issued at release; print the complete edition today.
Corrections log
| Version | Date | State | Change | Notice |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NR-COUNTRY-CHE-2026-BASELINE-v1.0.0 | October 2026 | DRAFT | Baseline Edition 2026, inaugural annual edition, | none |
Data gaps3What the repository does not hold yet, and the source proposed for each
| Gap | Shown here as | Proposed source |
|---|---|---|
| Exposure values per hazard (people, assets, hectares) | the edition’s own risk objects, without values | the Index country profile once the Index releases values, risksindex.com/che/ |
| The NHS-1 hazard types and their assignment to this edition’s risk objects | an editorial reading of the hazard words | the NHS-1 type assignment through the Registry |
| Infrastructure in the coupling matrix | Infrastructure marked not assessed | an Infrastructure row and column in the edition matrix at the next cut |
Send evidence or a correction on Switzerland.
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