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FOEN is the federal government’s centre of environmental expertise and is part of the Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications. It is responsible for ensuring that natural resources are used sustainably, that the public is protected against natural hazards, and that the environment is protected from unacceptable adverse impacts.
The federal agency is responsible for:
- Minimising the risks for people, the environment and property resulting from natural hazards such as avalanches, flooding, torrents, debris flows, erosion, landslides, rockfall, rockslides, debris avalanches, earthquakes and major accidents
- Ensuring comparable protection throughout Switzerland for humans, the environment and important material assets
- Advising the cantons on introducing sustainable protective measures against natural hazards as well as cofinancing these measures (implementation of the Forest and Hydraulic Engineering Act)
- Implementing integrated risk management
- Supervising the implementation of the Major Accidents Ordinance, supporting the cantons and cooperating in MAO implementation through other federal agencies
- Coordinating earthquake mitigation measures and promoting a concerted contingency policy
- Re-establishing near-natural conditions for watercourses adversely affected by hydraulic engineering (renaturation)
- Supervising flow and lake regulation
- Ensuring long-term protective functions in mountain forests
The Sendai Framework Voluntary Commitments (SFVC) online platform allows stakeholders to inform the public about their work on DRR. The SFVC online platform is a useful toolto know who is doing what and where for the implementation of the Sendai Framework, which could foster potential collaboration among stakeholders. All stakeholders (private sector, civil society organizations, academia, media, local governments, etc.) working on DRR can submit their commitments and report on their progress and deliverables.