Solar Impulse – Swiss ambassador for sustainability
Bern, 09.03.2015 - Switzerland would like to wish bon voyage and every success to Solar Impulse, which has just set off from Abu Dhabi on its trip to circumnavigate the globe. The plane is being piloted by the project's initiators Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg and is the fruit of a partnership with the Swiss scientific community and both Swiss and foreign private-sector investors. The Swiss federal government has backed the Solar Impulse project from the outset. The Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) is supporting Solar Impulse in its round-the-world flight: under the slogan "Solar Impulse, an idea born in Switzerland" it will be seen as an ambassador for a future world where nature and the climate are respected.
Since the inception of the Solar Impulse project in November 2003, the following Swiss bodies in particular have supported it: the EPFL, the DDPS, DETEC, the FDF through the FOBL, Meteosuisse and the FDFA. Through this collaboration with the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology and Swiss companies, Switzerland as a whole is represented in this aircraft – a symbol of an innovative nation in terms of sustainable development and environmental protection.
"I applaud this pioneering venture, which will show our younger generations that a world we thought impossible to attain is now within our grasp. Progress and respect for our planet. That is the message Switzerland is giving with Solar Impulse," declared Federal Councillor Didier Burkhalter, head of the FDFA.
Ambassador Nicolas Bideau, head of Presence Switzerland, was in Abu Dhabi to see Solar Impulse take off on its voyage. Swiss representations abroad (embassies, consulates, swissnex offices) have planned a number of events in the course of the next few weeks, in particular in those countries where the aircraft will land. Solar Impulse is not only an adventure, a challenge and an attempt at something new: it is a tremendous opportunity to showcase our whole country.
Address for enquiries
FDFA Communication
Federal Palace West Wing
CH-3003 Bern, Switzerland
Tel. Press service: +41 58 460 55 55
E-mail: kommunikation@eda.admin.ch
Twitter: @SwissMFA
Publisher
Federal Department of Foreign Affairs
https://www.eda.admin.ch/eda/en/home.html
