collapses

In the midst of the European energy storm, Switzerland seems to live in a bubble of prosperity. In a recent publicationthe geopolitical analyst Velina Tchakarova showed how the Swiss industry continues to grow in front of the European Union. And the data does not deceive anyone: in the first quarter of this year the industrial production of the Helvetic increased 8.5% year -on -yearwhile in Germany recorded last June A 1.9%collapse, the worst data in years. The contrast is even more evident in the long term: since 2011, Swiss industrial production It has grown almost 40%in front of the German stagnation. The Swiss road. True to its neutrality, but knowing how to position itself, the Swiss industry is dominated by sectors of high added value and low relative energy consumption, like pharmaceuticals and biotechnology. But here is the most revealing: that low energy consumption is not only efficiency, but also outsourcing (a sophisticated strategy of Green offshoring). An EBP consultant study for the Federal Environmental Office (BAFU) shows that two thirds of the environmental footprint of Switzerland They are generated outside their borders. The report Umwelt Schweiz 2022 Confirm this pattern: the country reduces its internal impact at the expense of moving it abroad. There are different examples that illustrate it well: the Roche company announced in May A new biopharmaceutical plant in Shanghai, the Lonza company operating in Guangzhou Or, the most striking case, Siegfried managing a global network with headquarters in different countries that allows you to distribute phases of the chain outside the Helvetic territory. Together, these movements illustrate how the Swiss industrial “miracle” retains the added value at home while displacing the most polluting and expensive part abroad. To this is added an electrical system less vulnerable to gas: the Hydroelectricity and the nuclear They represent a good part of their mix. The Labyrinth of the EU. At this time you are going through an industrial decline: Eurostat reported that in June the production fell 1.0% in the EU as a whole and 1.3% in the eurozone. The setback It was coming last yearwhen the manufacturing volume was 2% lower than in 2022. And Ing Think analysts They warn that European industrial production It remains 5% below two years ago, a prolonged stagnation signal. To this fall is added a perfect storm: high energy costsCO₂ and an internal debate about its energy model. France, With a reactor -based systemleads the block that defends nuclear energy as a backbone of the transition. Spain and Portugal, with solar and wind abundance, demand otherwise: more interconnections and networks To take advantage of renewable surplus. In addition, it is added The tireless search by the EU of looking for another output to stock up that it is not Russia in terms of gas. While Switzerland transfers its heaviest loads to Asia, Europe is enclosed in its own rules, paying CO₂ rights that further increase its energy intensive industries. Switzerland outsourizes, Europe internalizes. Switzerland harvest added value, Europe assumes added costs. The awkward contrast. Here the paradox emerges. Switzerland exhibits an expansion industry, favorable environmental statistics and a more stable electricity supply. Everything seems to indicate that it has found the perfect formula to prosper in the midst of European chaos. For its part, the European Union is paying the price If pioneer: its factories face much higher energy costs, their energy intensive industries lose competitiveness and their governments carry the pressure of meet strict climatic objectives. But Swiss success relies on a small print. The report itself Umwelt Schweiz 2022 He admits that two thirds of the country’s environmental footprint are generated outside their borders. That is, Switzerland retains at home the added value of its pharmaceutical and technological industry, while the energy cost and pollution are transferred to other places. That apparently virtuous model implies a strategic risk: to depend on global supply chains and expose themselves to political vulnerabilities in Asia. In climatic terms, the question is inevitable: are global emissions really reduced when Switzerland “is cleaned” at the cost of others getting more? Or, in other words, isn’t its industrial miracle with another way to outsource the environmental invoice? Forecasts On paper, Switzerland seems greener and more prosperous. But the true story is told in the chimneys of China and in the closed factories of Germany. The Helvetic miracle works, to a large extent, because the energy and climatic invoice is paid by others. While industrial production collapses in the European Union, in Switzerland is triggered. However, that balance, sustained in global chains and in others, could be broken when geopolitics tightens. The real unknown is not how much the Swiss miracle can last, but who is willing to pay his invoice. Image | Freepik and Unspash Xataka | Nuclear fever in the middle of AI: Uranium rises like foam while stumble