DSS
Federal Office for the Environment FOEN
The figures show the financial commitment of the federal government, cantons and municipalities to the prevention of natural hazards, which is a joint task. The federal government supports the development of hazard databases (hazard maps), the construction of protective structures (stream, avalanche and rockfall barriers), the maintenance of protective forests and the preparation of intervention measures with an average subsidy rate of 40%. This also includes expenditure on improving warning and alert systems for natural hazards (OWARNA).
good
impossible to evaluate
In 2024, a total of CHF 656 million was spent on protection against natural hazards, the larger part of which was invested in protective structures built in accordance with the provisions of the Federal Act on Hydraulic Engineering.The goal is to meet the needs of the cantons and at the same time use the funds efficiently. The state of the situation can thus be judged as positive. Given the uncertainty related to the time horizon and the evolution of risks, it is not possible to define a desired direction for the investment trend in protective structures against natural hazards.
The commitment credits are set after the reorganisation of the financial equalisation and division of tasks (NFA) between the Confederation and the cantons for each NFA period, and the payment credits are set in autumn for the following year.
International comparison is not possible because the legal frameworks are very different.
The figures are recorded by the FOEN through a survey of the cantonal budgetary data as part of the ongoing financial and project planning in the cantons and then corroborated. Based on this, the federal government calculates the payment authorisation for flood protection.