The Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) is responsible for ensuring the sustainable use of natural resources such as soil, water, air, tranquillity and forests. It is responsible for protecting against natural hazards, protecting the environment and human health from excessive stresses, preserves biodiversity and landscape quality and is in charge of international environmental policy.
Priority themes with FOEN participation
The FOEN’s goals and duties
The Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) is the federal centre of excellence for the environment.
In accordance with policy requirements, it pursues the following goals:
- Long-term conservation and sustainable use of natural resources (soil, water, forest, air, climate, biological and landscape diversity) and the rectification of existing impairments
- Protection of human life against excessive environmental impacts, in particular arising from noise, harmful organisms and substances, non-ionising radiation, waste and major accidents
- Protection of human life and material assets against hydrological and geological natural hazards, specifically the risks posed by floods, earthquakes, avalanches, landslides, erosion and rockfall
The FOEN fulfils the following functions in pursuit of these goals:
- It prepares the decisions necessary for a comprehensive and coherent policy on sustainable natural resource management and implements this policy. This encompasses, in particular, the sustainable use of natural resources and the protection of human life against natural hazards and the environment against excessive impacts.
- As a basis for resource management it monitors the environment and provides information about the state of the environment and the possibilities for ensuring the balanced use and protection of natural resources.
Sectors
The Federal Office for the Environment has put together the risks and opportunities and the options for adaptation to climate change in the following sectors:
Projects
Data
Last modification 27.04.2021
