In a statement, the Federal Council gave its support for an agreement to re-draw the Swiss border with Italy. Here’s why the border between Switzerland and our southern neighbour is up for debate, and why it moves so much.

Switzerland green lights border change with Italy

On September 27, the Swiss government gave its approval for a plan to re-draw the border between Switzerland and Italy. The new boundary will be drawn in high areas of the Swiss mountains, specifically around the Tête Grise, the Plateau Rosa, the Carrel hut and the Dos de Rollin. 

The Federal Council wrote that the new agreement will help guarantee the “legal and territorial stability” of local areas like Swiss ski resorts and alpine huts. The new border will now be sent to the Italian parliament for approval.

Why does the Swiss-Italian border keep changing?

While we usually associate border changes with armies, wars, referendums and peace treaties, the Swiss border with Italy moves for a far more peculiar reason: the climate. The border is defined by the so-called watershed, the dividing line where snowmelt falls off the mountain. In this case, if the water flows south into the Mediterranean or Adriatic Sea, then the mountainside it runs off is Italian. If it runs into the North or Black Sea, then the slope is in Switzerland.

However, the problem occurs when glaciers in Switzerland and Italy melt, which then moves the flow of water towards or away from each nation. Glacier peaks are typically used as part of the border, so when these melt, they can move the watershed line or reveal a new rock peak that then becomes the border.

Global warming leads to border changes between Italy and Switzerland

This means that the Swiss-Italian border is very fluid (pun unintended). The glaciers and permafrost that used to define the boundary are now changing rapidly thanks to global warming. For instance, a 2022 study from ETH Zurich found that Swiss glaciers have shrunk by more than half their original size between 1931 and 2021, having lost 12 percent between 2016 and 2021.

While having a profound effect on wildlife and biodiversity, this warming also leads to regular border changes. Most famously the Italian restaurant of Rifugio Guide del Cervino could soon have to pay Swiss taxes, as the glacial border keeps melting towards them.

Swiss-Italian border change to be conducted cordially

Luckily, the Swiss and the Italians are unlikely to fight over these changes. In 2008, the two signed an agreement recognising the Alps as a moving border, meaning it can move as much as it likes so long as it is caused by the environment.

Experts say that the situation is a good example of how watershed borders might affect more volatile boundaries, like those in Kashmir and the Andes. This new adjustment is the latest version of this agreement.