© KEYSTONE/Laurent Gillieron
Climate activists briefly blocked traffic Monday morning on a motorway exit in Lausanne. They carried out this action to demand measures from the Federal Council with regard to the energy renovation of buildings.
The activists set up shortly before 8 a.m. on the highway leading to the Maladière roundregarding, the southern entrance to Lausanne, which is always very busy during rush hour. Five people sat on the roadway holding banners that read “Renovate Switzerland” (renovate Switzerland), the name of their movement.
Several police patrols quickly intervened. The police evacuated the activists by carrying them off the highway, before taking their identity. The evacuation took place calmly, noted Keystone-ATS on the spot. Traffic, blocked for a quarter of an hour, was then able to resume gently.
Recently created, Renovate Switzerland is the Swiss branch of a “civil resistance” movement that already exists in a dozen other countries, for example under the name Last Renovation in France or Declare Emergency in the United States. The operation carried out Monday morning in Lausanne is the first to take place on Swiss territory.
In its press kit, Renovate Switzerland states that it will continue its actions until the Federal Council hears its request. Namely: the establishment of a national plan to renovate, by 2040, the million houses that require emergency insulation.
One billion francs per year
Activists add that subsidies for the energy renovation of buildings should amount to one billion francs per year from 2023, five times more than today. They also require the training of 100,000 additional workers in the construction sector.
“Such a plan will have the effect of drastically reducing CO2 emissions, reducing our energy dependence on foreign countries, and halving energy bills,” says Renovate Switzlerland, who points to “the energy gulf” of buildings in Switzerland.