The government wants to purchase additional emission certificates to comply with an international agreement on reducing the output of greenhouse gases.
The environment ministry said it was mandated to negotiate a deal with an industry foundation to contribute to the estimated SFr60 million ($71.2 million) cost of the certificates.
Switzerland is likely to miss its target of cutting its carbon dioxide emissions by four million tonnes in the 2008-2012 period, according to a forecast published last November.
But the terms of the Kyoto Protocol allow industrialised countries to buy certificates for emission cuts from other countries if efforts at a domestic level are not sufficient.
Under the scheme the polluter pays a sum and the seller is rewarded for reducing emissions.
In 2003 Switzerland committed itself to reducing the amount of CO2 by eight per cent between 2008 and 2012, compared with 1990 levels.
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