Switzerland took a step closer to implemnting its new CO2 law.
Keystone / Alessandro Della Bella
Switzerland must have a new climate policy for the years 2025 to 2030. The Senate did not finish examining the new CO2 law on Monday, but it has so far largely followed the government project. No new taxes are planned.
This content was published on
3 minutes
Keystone-SDA
As a signatory to the Paris Agreement, Switzerland must reduce its emissions by half compared to 1990. A clear law is needed to do this, and a means to finance the instruments, said parliamentarian Damian Müller.
The project is based on the current CO2 law which Parliament extended until 2024. The government has planned funding of CHF4.1 billion for the five years. This money comes from the CO2 tax already levied on fuels at CHF120 per tonne of CO2.
The government will not introduce new taxes, having learned the lessons of the failed previous version in a vote more than two years ago, underlined Environment Minister Albert Rösti.
In its project, the Federal Council plans to achieve around two thirds of the emissions reductions in Switzerland and the remaining third abroad. Narrowly, by 22 votes to 20 and one abstention, Othmar Reichmuth failed to set the percentage of measures taken in Switzerland at 75%. According to him, this would have served the Swiss economy, through the promotion of “innovative” ideas and new technologies and methods.
For her part, Lisa Mazzone did not want the Confederation to be able to acquire international certificates to achieve the objectives. If Switzerland does not reduce its internal emissions enough by 2030, it will have to do so more drastically thereafter, she said.
In terms of mobility, concerning new passenger cars from 2030, the government plans that their CO2 emissions do not exceed 45% at most of the determining basic value of 2021. To the great dismay of the left and some centrists, the Senate supported this rate, wanting regulations similar to those of the EU. Proposals to lower this percentage to 25% and set a target of 0% emissions from 2035 were swept aside.
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. You can find them here.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
External Content
Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Almost finished… We need to confirm your email address. To complete the subscription process, please click the link in the email we just sent you.
Macron will attend Swiss summit on Ukraine, says Zelensky
This content was published on
French President Emmanuel Macron will attend the peace conference on Ukraine at the Swiss Bürgenstock resort next month, according to Volodymyr Zelensky.
Top politician tells ‘corrupt’ Eurovision to stay away from Bern
This content was published on
A social media post by the president of Bern’s cantonal government critical of the Eurovision Song Contest has created waves and will be discussed in the cantonal parliament.
Swiss centre records over 200 victims of human trafficking
This content was published on
Last year 317 people took part in a protection programme run by the Specialist Unit for Trafficking in Women and Women’s Migration (FIZ) in German-speaking Switzerland.
This content was published on
The Geneva-based International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and partners are opening a field hospital in southern Gaza on Tuesday.
Lack of smartphone sustainability in Switzerland hits environment
This content was published on
Almost half of all Swiss citizens hang on to their old smartphones, tablets and laptops, according to the Federal Statistical Office.
Police clear out pro-Palestinian students protesting in Geneva
This content was published on
The police intervened early on Tuesday to dislodge pro-Palestinian students who had been occupying the University of Geneva for almost a week.
New gel developed in Zurich renders alcohol harmless
This content was published on
A newly developed gel composed of whey proteins breaks down alcohol in the body and could reduce its harmful and intoxicating effects in humans.
Pro-Palestine protests extend to Basel and Fribourg universities
This content was published on
Demonstrators called for an academic boycott of all Israeli institutions and disassociation with Chaim Weizmann, the first Israeli president.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.