Work on national climate scenarios for Switzerland first began in the early 2000s, culminating in the 2007 report «Climate Change and Switzerland 2050». Since 2014, the Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology (MeteoSwiss) has been tasked with producing regular, up-to-date climate scenarios according to the latest scientific findings. The previous climate change scenarios CH2018 were followed by an update of information on climate change in Switzerland as part of the “Climate CH2025” project.
Based on the Federal Council's mandate and as part of Switzerland’s strategy for adaptation to climate change, the Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology, MeteoSwiss, regularly provides up-to-date climate scenarios that are freely available for all applications. Since the first edition of the Swiss climate scenarios in 2007, three further generations have followed, published in 2011, 2018 and most recently, in 2025. Each update for Switzerland incorporates the most recent research, including IPCC findings, the latest modelling, and feedback from users. This ensures that individuals and organisations, both public and private, can always work with the best available data.
All previous climate scenarios are listed below with a brief description:
- Climate CH2025
- Climate Scenarios CH2018
- Climate Scenarios CH2011 (and associated extension series CH2011+)
- Climate Scenarios CH2007 (Climate Change and Switzerland 2050)
Further information on the respective climate scenarios and the products and data developed for them can be found via the links below.
Climate CH2025
The Climate CH2025 climate scenarios are developed by the Swiss Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology MeteoSwiss in collaboration with ETH Zurich and the Center for Climate Systems Modelling (C2SM), with contributions from the University of Bern and the University of Lausanne, and implemented under the umbrella of the National Centre for Climate Services (NCCS). The climate scenarios of Climate CH2025 validate and build upon projections of future climate change in Switzerland, set out in previous scenario generations and they are based on the Sixth Assessment Report of the IPCC.
Since publication of the CH2018 climate scenarios, the climate itself, science and user needs have continued to evolve. A key objective of Klima CH2025 is to better link observational data and model-based scenarios. This enables consistent and application-oriented information to be provided, for example, through the introduction of global warming levels. These allow political climate targets to be directly compared to climatic impacts. Climate CH2025 builds on CH2018 and expands the work with longer measurement series, improved process understanding and information from new, high-resolution and convection-permitting climate models. In addition, the current MeteoSwiss reference period 1991–2020 is used. Detailed information on heavy precipitation and heat in urban areas is also compiled. In line with the rapid warming observed, the new scenarios show higher warming than previous projections. In a 3-degree world, this corresponds to approximately 10 to 15 percent more warming than presented in CH2018.
Reports and data
Here you will find an overview of all the reports, data and graphics within the framework of Climate CH2025.
Climate Scenarios CH2018
The CH2018 Climate Scenarios along with previous editions were developed by MeteoSwiss and ETH Zurich under the umbrella of the National Centre for Climate Services (NCCS) and in collaboration with other partners. They validate and build upon projections of future climate change in Switzerland, set out in previous scenario generations and are based on the Fifth Assessment Report of the IPCC. Compared with CH2011, CH2018 also provided concrete values for various trends that had previously only been known qualitatively, such as drought, extreme precipitation or heat indicators. Once again, the latest generation of climate model simulations were used in combination with new statistical methods. The CH2018 Scenarios also incorporated another key innovation, namely processing of results into user-oriented products such as a brochure, a web atlas and specific datasets.
Reports and data
Climate Scenarios CH2011
The CH2011 Climate Scenarios were created by ETH Zurich and MeteoSwiss. Compared with the 2007 report, these scenarios featured improved projections of regional and global climate models and new statistical methods. This provided enhanced and more robust information on future climate trends in Switzerland, comprising localised data, including assessments of uncertainties and presenting a significantly broader product range. The CH2011 scenarios were based on results of the IPCC's Fourth Assessment Report and the climate simulations of the European ENSEMBLES project.
The follow-up extension series (CH2011+) complemented the CH2011 Climate Scenario products to better meet user needs. Extensions consisted of several articles (in English) and corresponding datasets and were coordinated by members of the CH2011 community.
Reports and data
Climate Scenarios 2007
The report «Climate Change and Switzerland 2050» was produced in 2007 under the aegis of the Advisory Body on Climate Change (OcCC) and the Forum for Climate and Global Change (ProClim). The report was built on MeteoSwiss' projections of future temperature and precipitation trends in the form of climate scenarios. These scenarios were scientifically based on the Third and Fourth Assessment Reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and served as a basis for the description of impacts of climate change in Switzerland, up to the middle of this century.