Federal Councillor Leuthard on working visit to South Africa
Bern, 27.01.2015 - Federal Councillor Doris Leuthard will travel to South Africa next week for talks on energy and climate policy where she will meet the South African environment minister, Edna Molewa, as well as representatives from the academic and business communities. The working visit also presents an opportunity to visit a number of projects co-arranged by Switzerland South Africa to promote energy efficiency and renewable energies.
Energy and climate issues will form the focus of the working visit to South Africa between 2 and 5 February. Federal Councillor Leuthard will meet the South African environment minister, Edna Molewa, in Pretoria to discuss climate policy. In Port Elizabeth exchanges are scheduled with the mayor, as well as with representatives from Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University involved in environmental and energy research who work closely with industry. In Cape Town, the head of DETEC will meet representatives from the authorities, the business community and the Green Building Council.
During her visit to South Africa, Federal Councillor Leuthard will also visit energy efficiency projects in which Switzerland has been involved. South Africa is one Switzerland's priority countries in economic development cooperation and is one of the non-European countries with which Switzerland cooperates closely in science and research. Federal Councillor Leuthard will be accompanied on her trip by a number of business representatives and the director of EAWAG, Janet Hering. The aquatic research institute from the ETH Domain fosters close ties with a number of universities in South Africa and takes part in the Swiss-South African Joint Research Programme.
Address for enquiries
Communication DETEC, +41 58 462 55 11
Publisher
General Secretariat of the Federal Department of Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications; General Secretariat DETEC
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