Hundreds of school students took to the streets across Switzerland on Friday to protest against climate change – and in particular the recently rejected revised Swiss CO2 law.
This content was published on
2 minutes
Keystone-SDA/SRF/ilj
The protest, that took place in the capital Bern, plus Zurich, St Gallen and Basel, was organised by an independent youth movementExternal link, that is not affiliated to any parties or organisations. It was inspired by the Swedish youth activist, the 15-year-old Greta Thunberg, who recently spokeExternal link at the UN climate conference (COP24External link) in Poland. She has organised school strikes in Sweden.
A further prompt was the decision by the House of Representatives to water down – and then reject – an amended law on carbon dioxide emissions during the recent winter session.
More
More
Refusal to act on climate change slammed as shortsighted
This content was published on
Environment Minister Doris Leuthard calls on the Swiss parliament to put party politics behind to find solution on global warming.
The government wanted to ensure that Switzerland adhered to the decisions of the Paris climate accord aimed at limiting a further rise in temperatures worldwide.
Future fears
“It has become clear to us that politicians are not reacting to the climate crisis,” said Zurich pupil Jonathan Daum in a statement, quoted on the Swiss news agency Keystone-SDA.
Keystone-SDA estimated that there were more than 1,000 demonstrators in Bern. In St Gallen around 300-400 students protested at the Cantonal School Burggraben. Too little is being done about climate change, one of the protestors told Swiss public radio SRFExternal link. The pupils explained that they were afraid of what the future holds.
The school’s headmaster said that while he had understanding for the protest, in general the school did not want strikes.
Swiss money laundering office registers record number of reports
This content was published on
The Money Laundering Reporting Office Switzerland (MROS) registered a record number of reports of suspicious activity last year.
Two teens accused of planning terror attack released from custody
This content was published on
The Schaffhausen judiciary has released the two teenagers from custody who allegedly planned bomb attacks in Switzerland.
OECD: Sluggish economic activity slowing growth in Switzerland
This content was published on
Sluggish economic activity at the start of the year is weighing on growth in Switzerland, with GDP expected to fall to 1.1% in 2024.
Report finds mistakes which led to Swiss government data breach
This content was published on
Mistakes were made by both the government and internet company Xplain in the case of a criminal cyber-attack on the Bern-based IT business.
Swiss government wants better gender balance in federal administration
This content was published on
New Swiss government personnel management targets say there must be even more female managers in the federal administration.
Swiss national science foundation funded over 5,000 projects in 2023
This content was published on
In 2023, the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) provided a total of CHF961 million worth of funding towards research projects.
Switzerland invites 160 delegations to June Ukraine peace talks
This content was published on
Russia is currently not among the delegations invited to talks aimed at helping bring about peace in the conflict between Moscow and Ukraine.
Survey: air travel most popular way to go on holidays for Swiss
This content was published on
Despite the climate crisis, flying is the most popular mode of transport for private travel – particularly among young, urban and high-income travellers.
Swiss government to use phone data to identify asylum seekers
This content was published on
From April 2025, authorities plan to be able to analyse data from mobile phones, computers and other data carriers to identify asylum seekers.
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.
Read more
More
COP24: Text adopted, ambitions abandoned
This content was published on
Youth representatives of the Swiss Youth for Climate had front row seats at the COP24 climate negotiations. They were not impressed by the outcome.
Swiss promise more support at UN climate conference
This content was published on
Switzerland is prepared to up its contribution to the fight against climate change to the tune of $120 million (CHF119.6 million).
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.