Most Swiss think about CO2-generating lifestyles
A majority of the Swiss population feels that climate change is alarming enough to start questioning personal lifestyles, finds a survey.
As Swiss public television, RTSExternal link, reported on Sunday, the UNIVOX Environment 2018 studyExternal link shows that 54% of Swiss are rethinking their lifestyles on account of the climate crisis.
If CO2 emissions do not decline, two out of five respondents advocate increasing CO2 taxes. More than half want revenues to be used to encourage building renovations and energy savings.
Two-thirds of respondents also believe that Switzerland should find alternatives to fossil fuels within 20 years, so that it can stay below the two-degree target set in the Paris Climate Agreement.
+ Switzerland’s climate ambassador on what to expect at COP24
More than 40% believe that such measures to protect the climate will make the Swiss economy stronger. And about as many, four out of ten, agree that Switzerland should set itself the goal of becoming Europe’s greenest country.
However, optimism is on the decline. From 2014-2016, 26-28% were certain that the shift from fossil fuels could succeed; in 2018 it was just 10%.
Carried out by the research and polling institute GfS Zurich, the survey was commissioned by WWF and swisscleantech.
More
Next decade ‘will be decisive’ for climate crisis
In compliance with the JTI standards
More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative
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.