How climate change is redrawing the border between Switzerland and Italy?

Land borders are often considered to be permanently fixed lines – but in mountainous regions like the Alps, where melting ice and permafrost are reshaping the landscape, local governments are sometimes forced to redraw maps.

On the Swiss-Italian border, just above the Theodul glacier, which binds residents in a common economic environment, at least for now, two municipalities around the iconic Matterhorn are thriving thanks to a steady stream of tourists visiting the region's beautiful landscapes and skiing on the high slopes, which are covered in snow all year round.

This is despite the melting of glaciers that have changed the landscape, forcing local authorities to redefine the border between the two countries.

“The glacier has retreated on the Italian side. In some areas, there is only bare ground,” said Jérôme Perruquet, a mountain guide from the Aosta Valley. The extent of the glacier’s retreat on the Iltay side has necessitated some repair work, which is expected to begin soon, he said.

“The Swiss side will take the lead, although most of the problem lies on Italian territory, but they have great commercial interests,” said Mr. Perruquet.

With the interests of both countries converging, negotiations are proceeding smoothly. The intervention, which has already been carried out using excavators, aims to maintain skiing activities around the Theodul glacier. “We all benefit from this,” said a local guide, even if the glacier “suffers a little damage.”

The Commission for the Maintenance of the National Border between Switzerland and Italy met in Bern for its regular session from 9 to 11 May this year. The discussions focused mainly on the adjustment of the border in the Testa Grigia/Plateau Rosa region and a related agreement was drawn up, according to the Swiss Federal Geodetic Office, Swisstopo.

Swisstopo said approval procedures for the deal “are currently underway in both Switzerland and Italy” although it did not know when the deal would be announced or when final political confirmation would be given.

In Europe’s alpine regions, political borders are often drawn along mountain passes. As these shift due to global warming, borders will need to be adjusted. “Given climate change and the rapid melting of Swiss glaciers, we can expect more such cases in the future,” Swisstopo asserts.

For the Theodul glacier, the main attractions are the iconic Matterhorn mountain and offer year-round skiing, from the resort of Zermatt (1,620 m) on the Swiss side and Cervinia (2,050 m) on the Italian side.

And as lower-altitude resorts struggle for snow due to climate change, the Theodul Glacier is attracting more and more skiers. However, the summer of 2022 is an exception. Due to the melting glacier, the ski runs will be closed to the public for the first time, and will be open only to national team skiers.

Guides point out that some of the rocks on the Iltay side are no longer covered in snow “for the first time in decades.” This confirms a broader trend: while the largest glaciers are shrinking due to climate change, many smaller ones have disappeared altogether.

“We currently have 1,400 glaciers in Switzerland, many of which are small. Small glaciers are the first to disappear. In the last 30-40 years alone, we have lost around 1,000 glaciers. Now we are losing the ones that are considered important,” explains Matthias Huss, head of the Swiss Glacier Monitoring Network (GLAMOS) at ETH Zurich.

With climate change, melting ice is also accompanied by melting of permafrost (frozen soil that acts as a glue between cracked rocks and other debris). Permafrost melts more slowly but has an even greater impact on geological change, as well as changing borders between countries.

“If we talk about rockfalls and landslides, like the one that recently occurred in Tyrol on the Swiss-Austrian border, this is related to the melting of permafrost. Glaciers can also cause this, but to a lesser extent,” Professor Huss explained.

All but the highest glaciers in the Alps, such as those on Mont Blanc, could be gone by 2100, the professor said. That’s the worst-case scenario, but even in the best-case scenario – for example, if the world’s nations achieve CO2 neutrality by 2050 – “two-thirds of the Alpine glaciers will be gone by the end of the century,” Professor Huss said.

In contrast to the smooth negotiations between Switzerland and Italy, a similar dispute between France and Italy over border rights to the Mont Blanc mountain range may not go so well: negotiations between Paris and Rome, which have dragged on for years, will require lawyers and experts to come up with a solution acceptable to both sides.

In the future, tensions could also flare up in other parts of the world – such as in Asia, where border disputes in the Himalayas have sparked conflict between India and China. Given the growing competition for other resources, such tensions are unlikely to be resolved peacefully!

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