Rising temperatures are putting increasing pressure on Switzerland’s established capacity to manage natural disasters, according to findings released by Zurich-based global reinsurance group Swiss Re through its Swiss Re Institute.
The company noted that Switzerland already benefits from strong protection against events such as floods and storms, supported by prevention strategies, strict building standards, forward planning and extensive insurance coverage, but rising temperatures now add an additional layer of risk.
The Swiss Re Institute reports that Switzerland is warming at more than twice the global average, according to the Swiss Academy of Sciences. The company explained that extreme heat does not occur in isolation but can exacerbate existing risks, affecting public health, agriculture, water supplies, energy demand and critical infrastructure, while also indirectly causing conditions that could worsen other hazards such as flooding.
As part of its response, Swiss Re launched the “Resilient Switzerland” initiative, which aims to increase a shared understanding of risks, encourage preventive action and support mechanisms for allocating losses. Within this framework, Swiss Re will organize the first Schweizer Resilienz-Tag on 26 June 2026 at the Center for Global Dialogue in Rüschlikon, bringing together government, scientific, business and civil society stakeholders to consider practical responses to the effects of heat at the local level.
Gianfranco Lot, President of Swiss Re Switzerland, commented: “Switzerland is well prepared for floods and storms. But hot weather is a different kind of risk: less visible, harder to insure and able to amplify risks that the country already manages well. For hot weather, resilience means shade on the streets, cooler rooms in care facilities, safer outdoor working hours and risk sharing for unavoidable losses.”
Swiss Re data shows that Switzerland now has about 10 to 15 days a year when temperatures reach at least 30°C, compared with about five days in 1990. Swiss Re also highlighted that urban areas are particularly vulnerable as they retain heat more efficiently than the surrounding countryside and tend to be 6°C warmer. Warm nights, including tropical nights where temperatures remain above 20°C, further limit cooling and recovery.
The company also pointed to health-related consequences found in the analysis, including an increased risk of heat stroke, dehydration, cardiovascular stress and exacerbation of respiratory disease, particularly among older adults and people with underlying medical conditions. Swiss Re looked to the 2003 European heat wave, noting that mortality rates in Switzerland increased by about 1.5% that year, which shows how quickly rising temperatures affect public health systems.
Swiss Re further explains that high temperatures can change the behavior of other natural disasters. Floods remain the country’s largest insured natural catastrophe risk, accounting for around 60% of average annual insured loss estimates on a normalized basis, according to Swiss Re Institute data. After a prolonged period of high temperatures, dry ground absorbs less rainfall, increasing the likelihood of rapid surface water flooding during storms.
Meanwhile, drought conditions can weaken agriculture’s ability to withstand hail, while rising temperatures and thawing permafrost can destabilize hillslopes. Swiss Re noted that the Bratten Rock and Ice avalanche in May 2025, which resulted in insured losses of CHF 320 million, is an example of how long-term climate change can affect the consequences of severe events.
Swiss Re noted that many effective responses must take place locally. While Switzerland already uses heat warning systems, urban temperature monitoring and targeted protection for vulnerable groups, Swiss Re stressed that much of the building complex, including schools, homes and medical facilities, was designed for cooler conditions and now needs to be retrofitted.
Swiss Re observed that across the country, practical measures are emerging, including redesigning urban spaces, increasing shade and water features, changing land use planning, reducing surface sealing and more thermally focused development approaches.
With the Schweizer Resilienz-Tag, Swiss Re aims to examine how these measures, together with favorable conditions, can enhance preparedness for rising temperatures, bringing together state and federal authorities, municipalities, researchers, businesses, civil society and the insurance sector to increase coordination and risk awareness.
Swiss Re, through its Swiss Re Institute, concluded that maintaining Switzerland’s resilience requires coordinated, multi-layered action that combines prevention, adaptation and risk sharing, leveraging existing natural disaster management strengths while addressing the increasingly severe impacts of high temperatures.
