In 2016, the Alpine Initiative handed over its archive (with annual reports and accounts, correspondence, files on actions and campaigns, topic dossiers and printed matter) to the Swiss Social Archives. The holdings can be consulted in the reading room of the Swiss Social Archive without any restrictions on use.
Schweizerisches Sozialarchiv
The Swiss government adopted the general project for the construction of the second bore of the Gotthard road tunnel. The Alpine Initiative warned that the second bore must not lead to more transit traffic. It therefore is important that the capacity of a maximum of 1,000 vehicles per hour in each direction continues to be respected in the future.
The Alpine Initiative awarded the “Devil’s Stone” to Trivara AG, a company that imports “Fiji” water from the Fiji islands, 22,000 km away. With its “Rock Crystal” award, which was bestowed for the first time, the Alpine Initiative honoured a project by the City of Lausanne that aims to source 70% of the food used in the city’s canteen kitchens from less than 70 km away.
The “whatsalp” project – a long-distance trek across the Alps, from Vienna to Nice – was successfully completed. It aimed to document the current state of the Alps and changes to them. The TransALPedes project followed the same route back in 1992. The Alpine Initiative also supported the project at that time.
In 2017, we lit our traditional Alpine bonfire above Brig, together with Cipra Switzerland, Mountain Wilderness and the “whatsalp” project, in which hikers trekked across the Alps from Vienna to Nice. The next day, Jon Pult, President of the Alpine Initiative, presented the aims of the organisation. A 10-point action plan has been drawn up to ensure that the transfer goal is reached by 2018.
In a colourful event, the Alpine Initiative submitted its appeal for an increase in truck controls to the Federal Chancellery in Berne. 10,398 people signed the petition asking the Minister of Transport, Doris Leuthard, to reinforce controls of road freight traffic. This is important for the policy that aims to transfer traffic from road to rail, because compliance with road safety standards will ensures fair competition between road and rail.
At their assembly in Frauenfeld, members of the Alpine Initiative launched an appeal to the Minister of Transport, Doris Leuthard. They asked the Swiss government to reinforce truck controls in order to increase road safety. A level playing field in transport will increase the market share of rail and decrease the number of trucks crossing the Alps.
In 2016, 975,000 trucks crossed the Swiss Alps. This means that the number of truck trips fell below one million for the first time since the adoption of the Alpine Initiative in 1994. The Alpine Initiative is very pleased about this development, but will keep up its work until the goal of a maximum of 650,000 trucks per year is reached.
At its annual media conference in Bern, the Alpine Initiative presented a representative survey on the transfer of freight from road to rail: 80 percent of the Swiss population want only 650,000 trucks or less to cross the Alps per year. A clear majority also wants politicians to adopt new measures.
It took a lot of convincing by the Alpine Initiative, but the Commission of the Upper Chamber of the Swiss Parliament also rejected proposals to ease the night-time ban on trucks and increase the 40-tonne weight limit for timber transport. If adopted, these proposals would have hampered the transfer of freight from road to rail.
Shortly before the opening of the Gotthard base tunnel, the Alpine Initiative welcomed this pioneering project with an enormous heart. At the portal in Erstfeld, in the canton of Uri, activists released balloons with cards attached that read, “We love the Alps. This is why freight must be transferred from road to more environmentally-friendly rail.”