How Switzerland is stalling on implementing new climate rules

The travel industry has been given more time to implement the new guidelines. Gaetan Bally / Keystone

Just over a year ago, new climate legislation came into effect in Switzerland, in the form of an amended CO2 Act and a new Climate and Innovation Act. However, delaying tactics are hampering implementation, as our analysis shows.

Since January 1, all plane tickets from Zurich to Los AngelesExternal link should have the figure “1.9 tonnes” written on them. This is because, under Article 7aExternal link of the revised CO2 Act, airlines are now obliged to declare how much CO2 a flight is expected to cause.

According to the CO2 Ordinance, which was revised in line with the CO2 Act whose details it regulates, this obligation was to come into effect on the first day of 2026. However, passengers on flights to Los Angeles will search in vain for any mention of 1.9 tonnes on their tickets. How can this be?

Alex Tiefenbacher studied environmental sciences and philosophy at the federal technology institute ETH Zurich. She is an author and freelance journalist for various media outlets. Her focus is on Swiss climate legislation. In 2022, she co-founded the Climate Journalism Network Switzerland. She is a member of the Green Party of Switzerland.

Lobbying success by the travel industry

In 2025, the Swiss government’s executive body, the Federal Council, revised the CO2 Ordinance. The reportExternal link on the revision states that: “As the travel industry works with long planning horizons and requires an appropriate lead time, the start of implementation will be postponed by one year.”

Lobbying by the travel industry clearly bore fruit. André Lüthi, head of the travel agency Globetrotter, and Martin Wittwer, president of the Swiss Travel Association, travelled to Bern specifically for this purpose. According to the industryExternal link, there are no standardised, internationally recognised calculation methods for implementing the declaration. This is surprising, however, since CO2 figures for flights have been available for decades on portals such as myClimate in just a few clicks.

This is, moreover, an issue that would benefit from greater awareness-raising. Holidays account for one-third of the emissions of Swiss citizens, with roughly half the amount coming from air travel. In fact, the Swiss emit as much CO2 per person during their holidays as an average person in the world does in a year, according to a study published in the journal NatureExternal link. Of the 170 nations surveyed, Switzerland ranked seventh in terms of holiday emissions.

Foot-dragging across industries

The delaying tactics by the travel industry could go unnoticed if it were an isolated case. Indeed, it might not seem such a big deal when seen from the perspective of a single sector. However, a look at the broader picture shows that last year, the CO2 Act was whittled away at across the board. Here are just three examples.

According to the Federal Statistical Office, around 80% of destinations flown to from Switzerland are in Europe – and so in theory they can also be reached by train. This is why, when revising the CO2 Act, parliament decided to invest in expanding the rail network. Since the beginning of 2025, Article 37aExternal link has explicitly provided for funding for “long-distance cross-border passenger rail transport, and in particular to promote night trains”. The Swiss Federal Railways therefore started to plan a new night train route from Zurich via Hamburg and Copenhagen to Malmö. The first tickets were sold.

However, night train journeys to northern Europe will not be going ahead after all, as parliament failed to approve the funding for it during the budget debate in December 2025. The Swiss Federal Railways have therefore had to cancel the ticket salesExternal link and refund the customers’ money.

While emissions from the transport sector have decreased by only 8% since 1990, they have dropped by nearly 46%External link in the construction industry. This success is mainly due to the buildings programme, as well as the high pricing of heating emissions through the CO2 levy. The building programme is also regulated in the CO2 Act, under Article 34External link. Since 2010, around CHF500 million ($636 million) in subsidies have been channelled annually through the programme into the replacement of fossil-fuel heating systems and insulation for buildings.

This success story is now threatened. Environment Minister Albert Rösti wanted to end the buildings programme and strike Article 34 from the CO2 ActExternal link. This cutback is one of the biggest items in the government’s savings package, with which the Federal Council aims to save around CHF3 billion a year from 2027 onwards. The buildings programme has served its purpose, Rösti argued at a media conferenceExternal link in late 2024. Just a few weeks later, the country’s highest auditing body, the Swiss Federal Audit Office, published a reportExternal link on the programme. It found that “almost two-thirds of space heating and hot water […] is still generated using fossil fuels.” In other words, the buildings programme has far from completed its job. Although parliament has now decided to make less drastic cuts hereExternal link than the Federal Council had intended, funding for building renovations has nonetheless been significantly reduced.

Corporations too have been cut some slack. Since 2025, Article 66aExternal link of the CO2 Ordinance has laid down a minimum reduction target of 2.25% per year for the CO2 emissions of certain companies. Generally, in Switzerland, a CO2 tax of CHF120 is levied per tonne of emissions from fossil fuels. Some businesses, however, are exempt from this. In return, they have a so-called target agreement with the federal government. This is a kind of contract that specifies which climate protection measures the firms must implement to be free from the CO2 levy. Until the beginning of 2025, however, these contracts did not include a minimum reduction requirement. The new 2.25% target was thus a step in the right direction.   

But this step is now being backtracked on, just one year later. From 2026, certain industrial companies will again be able to apply for a lighter reduction commitment. According to the governmentExternal link, this is a relief measure “in response to the new 39% additional tariffs imposed on Swiss imports into the United States as of August 7, 2025”. The fact that the tariffs have since been reduced does not change the fact that this exemption is now enshrined in law. Here, too, the industry appears to have scored a lobbying victory.

Lack of detailed rules and failed initiative

Implementation of Switzerland’s second key climate law, the Climate and Innovation Act, has not been plain sailing either. Two articles in the law have not yet been translated into clear rules.

The first of these is Article 10External link, regarding the government’s role as a model. Federal agencies and state-owned or controlled companies are supposed to lead by example and cut their emissions to zero earlier than the rest of Switzerland. Detailed rules for this are only now being draftedExternal link. Then there is Article 9External link on the financial sector. It lays down that “the federal government shall ensure that the Swiss financial centre makes an effective contribution to low-emission and climate-resilient development”. However, Swiss law still contains no climate regulations for Swiss financial institutions. All that exists is a voluntary and anonymous survey. The Federal Council has justified its inaction by saying that it has not received a clear mandate from parliament, as Article 9 refers to the federal government, and not to the Federal CouncilExternal link.

Switzerland is a small country. On a global scale, its emissions seem insignificant. However, the tonnes of CO2 generated within the sphere of influence of the Swiss financial centre are many times greater. According to a study by consulting firm McKinseyExternal link, these emissions amount to roughly six to nine times those generated directly on Swiss soil.

“As things stand today, I can assure you that we will miss our climate targets for 2030 – and by a long shot.” This statement comes not from an environmental organisation, but from Switzerland’s top climate official, Reto Burkard, deputy director of the Federal Office for the Environment and head of its climate sector.

The Climate and Innovation Act was approved in a nationwide vote in summer 2023 by a very clear majority of almost 60%. Meanwhile, the Climate Fund Initiative, put to voters on March 8, 2026, had a very different fate. The initiative called for Switzerland to invest between CHF3.9 and 7.7 billion annually to boost the country’s ecological transformation. It was turned down by almost 71% of voters.

Edited by Veronica De Vore/Adapted from German by Julia Bassam/gw