Next job: upgrade energy efficiency at the UN Palais
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The Swiss federal government will give Geneva CHF54 in additional funds in 2012, the bulk of which will go to the UN Palais building for renovations to make the 1936 structure more energy efficient, Bern announced Wednesday 29 June.
“International Geneva” will also receive CHF4 million a year starting in 2012 and another CHF600,000 to cover the cost of four new jobs starting in 2013, funds designed to increase the city’s competitiveness in wooing international congresses and conferences.
The federal government also noted Wednesday that it is increasing its contribution to the rent paid by international organizations, without specifying the amount.
The Palais has 52 elevators, 5km of corridors, a very complex electrical network and several heating, ventilation and air conditioning stations.
Ruth Dreifuss, former Swiss president, who grew up in the Secheron district in Geneva, attended a December 2008 presentation on the development of the international Geneva project, near the WTO.
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The proposed extension to the World Trade Organization’s building at Centre William Rappard will be decided this Sunday 27 September by the city of Geneva’s voters. The vote is a strictly municipal affair, and the outcome is not binding on the canton, which has the final say on city planning decisions. But this vote is being seen as a test of the city’s commitment to the concept of Genève internationale, host to the European headquarters of the UN and to more than 30 specialized UN organizations, as well as to a large number of non-governemental organizations (NGOs).
A strong “no” vote by the citizens of Geneva would seriously weaken that commitment. Pierre Vanek, leader of the project’s opponents, points out in an interview published in Le Temps that the canton can ignore the result of a refusal, but “people wouldn’t understand why it was going against a popular vote.”
The cantonal authorities approved the building extension because the WTO urgently needs the extra space.
