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Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) is recognized as an important tool for addressing residual emissions and achieving net-zero emission targets. While some have cautioned that a focus on CDR in policy processes may lead to delayed efforts to mitigate emissions, others have argued that such concerns are unwarranted. Nevertheless, the circumstances under which CDR could help or delay emissions mitigation in given contexts remain unclear. This paper explores the emerging discourse on CDR in Switzerland. We examined how the CDR community legitimizes CDR and limits its scope, and what the implications are for emissions mitigation. Switzerland is home to growing businesses in CDR and has pioneered the implementation of international offsetting projects under Article 6.2 of the Paris Agreement. We found that numerous promises help legitimize and attract interest in CDR. Actors use discursive strategies and rules to limit CDR and avoid disappointment in its contribution to climate mitigation. The idea that emission reduction should prevail over removal is promoted accordingly, which ironically helps legitimize the CDR idea yet dodges the question of how much removal is possible and for balancing which emissions. Superficial engagement with the issue is reinforced by the normalization of inflated promises and the sentiment that the mitigation deterrence rhetoric erodes trust in CDR. We argue that this can contribute to mitigation delays by evading the debate on what it is possible to remove and taking resources from alternative measures. We recommend a thorough discussion to examine the risks and the implementation of rules that minimize them. • Mitigation deterrence discourse leads to efforts to avoid substitution dynamics. • "Reductions first" legitimizes CDR without coordinating emission residuals. • Inflated promises of CDR may reduce resources for more realistic measures. • Attention to CDR dynamics is required to help achieve comprehensive decarbonization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Subsurface technologies, such as geothermal energy and carbon capture and storage, are options to help limit global warming. Subsurface technologies involve the risk of induced seismicity. The successful implementation of these technologies depends on the public perception of these risks. Risk governance frameworks propose assessing the level of public concern and designing adapted risk mitigation measures. We propose that concerns should not only be investigated with respect to the perceived risks but also with respect to the potential mitigation measures. We explore this by analyzing the perception of risk mitigation measures for different subsurface technologies. With an online survey (N = 808) in Switzerland we analyzed four technologies (in-between subject design) and four mitigation measures (within subject design). We found that risk mitigation measures are perceived differently, within and across technologies. Thus, public concerns about risk mitigation really matter. We suggest that future research should focus on how risk mitigation measures can be applied and communicated to realize the full potential of risk governance frameworks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By looking at deep geothermal energy in Switzerland, this article illustrates how innovation pathways in federal countries take entangled forms between top-down and bottom-up. The Swiss federal government presents deep geothermal energy as an important technology to decarbonize electricity production. Setbacks in early projects have slowed these efforts. Despite strong policy incentives from the federal government, no electricity is being produced from geothermal projects in Switzerland in 2019. Based on four case studies, we analyze how some cantons and cities have taken different pathways: Rather than implementing federal objectives, they favor heat production instead of electricity generation. The relative success of these initiatives led federal authorities to modify their approach to promoting geothermal energy. This study shows that federal mechanisms and instruments alone are not enough to make energy infrastructures acceptable locally. To learn from bottom-up experiences and adapt federal policies to local reality, better coordination between the federal and subnational levels is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A total of 2.7 billion people live in areas where earthquakes causing at least slight damage have to be expected regularly. Providing information can potentially save lives and improve the resilience of a society. Maps are an established way to illustrate natural hazards. Despite being mainly tailored to the requirements of professional users, they are often the only accessible information to help the public in deciding about mitigation measures. There is evidence that hazard maps are frequently misconceived. Visual and textual characteristics as well as the manner of presentation have been shown to influence their comprehensibility. Using a real case reflecting current practices, the material to communicate the updated seismic hazard model for Switzerland was analyzed in a representative online survey of the population (N=491) and in two workshops involving architects and engineers not specializing in seismic retrofitting (N=23). Although many best-practice recommendations have been followed, the understanding of seismic hazard information remains challenging. Whereas most participants were able to distinguish hazardous from less hazardous areas, correctly interpreting detailed results and identifying the most suitable set of information for answering a given question proved demanding. We suggest scrutinizing current natural-hazard communication strategies, empirically testing new products, and exploring alternatives to raise awareness and enhance preparedness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the concept of transdisciplinarity teaching for students' educational level in Switzerland. Topics discussed include the Transdisciplinarity Lab that was established by the Department of Environmental Systems Science (D-USYS) of ETH Zurich, the value of cross-field collaboration, stakeholder engagement and design thinking, and the services offered such as the Sustainability Learning Labs (SLLs) and courses on transdisciplinary research.

The disposal of radioactive waste is a striking example with which to trace the changing relationship between technology, society and policy when dealing with societally relevant controversial issues. The change is characterized by a transition from a technocratic approach to an approach with more intense cooperation and public participation. We analyze the societal discourse of a failed disposal project for low- and intermediate-level waste at the Mount Wellenberg site, Canton of Nidwalden (Central Switzerland). Insights are based on a case study in 2006, with focus groups, expert interviews, a media analysis, a representative canton-wide postal survey and targeted in-depth stakeholder interviews. The article focuses on the relationship of safety and process aspects. The data suggest that both are prime issues and people recognize the need for disposal of radioactive waste in a technical system but only if a fair procedure is guaranteed. We conclude that a sound balance between safety and procedural aspects needs to be found and thus a functional-dynamic view of public involvement is necessary, i.e. distinct levels of involvement (ranging from mere information up to empowerment) must fit the corresponding technical and non-technical requirements of a stepwise decision-making process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the role of social sciences and humanities (SSH) in integrative research on natural resources which may inform debates on issues like environmental justice, institutional frameworks and individual consumption. It notes the SSH research activities in Switzerland carried by the Swiss Academy of Humanities and Social Sciences in 2012 that offers insights into topics and affiliations of natural resources. The event identified SSH roles including code signing and co-producing.

The article focuses on the winter school developed by the Swiss Competence Center Environment and Sustainability (CCES) for doctoral students which aimed at engaging such students in transdisciplinary and interdisciplinary settings communicators and researchers. It states that the programme integrates theoretical reflection with practical experiences. It adds that majority of the experts of the programme are members of the Swiss Academy Society for Environment Research and Ecology (SAGUF).

Despite the considerable potential of low-flow showerheads to reduce household energy demand, their widespread implementation is still far from being realised. In this study, we compare the joint effect of a contextually embedded intervention in a public swimming pool to promote low-flow showerheads coupled with a mass campaign by a Swiss city's utility to the stand-alone effect of the mass campaign. We also explore the factors that influence the outcome of the contextually embedded intervention. The quasi-experimental design of the study was possible due to the co-occurring installation of low-flow showerheads in a local public swimming pool and a campaign of a local utility, which offered low-flow showerheads for domestic use at a substantially reduced price. Our findings showed that the combined intervention was substantially more effective than the mass campaign alone. However, this result has to be interpreted with caution owing to the imperfect comparability of the two campaigns. Based on a survey of 402 swimming pool visitors, the study findings demonstrate the crucial role of a positive direct experience in the promotion of low-flow showerheads. This had a significant positive impact on attitudes towards low-flow showerheads, which in turn was found to be the most important determinant of purchase intention. The results suggest that more active communication of energy efficiency measures in public facilities might contribute to reductions in household energy use. Such campaigns can be used to share experiences of energy efficiency technologies and, therefore, promote the use of similar systems at home., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Various countries have pledged to carry out system-wide energy transitions to address climate change. This requires taking strategic decisions with long-term consequences under conditions of considerable uncertainty. For this reason, many actors in the energy sector develop model-based scenarios to guide debates and decision-making about plausible future energy systems. Besides being a decision support instrument for policy-makers, energy scenarios are widely recognized as a way of shaping the expectations of experts and of influencing energy policy more generally. However, relatively little is known about how energy scenarios shape preferences and expectations of the public. We use an explorative research design to assess the publics' expectations of future energy systems through an online survey among Swiss residents (N = 797). We identified four significantly different clusters of people with distinct expectations about the future energy system, each seeing different implications for the acceptability of energy policies and the compatibility with projections of techno-economic energy scenarios. Cluster 1 expects a system-wide energy transition towards renewable energy sources that is similar to the policy-relevant national energy scenario. Cluster 2 also expects an energy transition, but believes it will lead to a range of technical challenges, societal conflicts and controversies with neighboring countries. Cluster 3 is the only cluster not expecting significant changes in the future energy system and thus not anticipating an energy transition. Cluster 4's expectations are between cluster 1 and 2, but it anticipates a huge increase in per capita electricity demand while prices are expected to remain low. The study at hand offers some initial insights into the interdependencies between energy transition pathways outlined in techno-economic energy scenarios and the energy system expectations of the public. These insights are essential for gaining a better understanding of whether and how energy scenarios can contribute to informed public debates about energy futures and how desirable pathways towards them might look like., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.