Voters find utopian “Environmental Responsibility Initiative” too much to swallow
11.04.2025 – Theodora Peter
With almost 70 per cent voting no, the popular initiative “For a responsible economy within our planet’s limits” failed at the ballot box on 9 February. The Swiss Abroad also rejected the proposal, which had been put forward by the Young Greens
The Young Greens may have lost, but there are no regrets. “For the first-ever time, Switzerland voted on whether planetary limits should apply to how it runs its economy,” they said. Planetary limits – a scientific concept – are boundaries that define how much human activity the Earth can tolerate before ecological damage occurs. They can relate to areas such as biodiversity, water consumption, and climate.
In tabling their initiative, the Young Greens wanted Switzerland to drastically cut its consumption of resources in order to preserve the basic foundations of life on Earth (see “Swiss Review” 6/2024). Ten years would have been the time frame for achieving this target. But their proposal overstepped the mark, with 69.8 per cent of voters rejecting it. The Swiss Abroad no was less emphatic, at 55.1 per cent.
Conservative opponents of the initiative who had labelled the proposal “extreme” felt vindicated. During the voting campaign, they had warned that the proposal would “destroy prosperity” and jeopardise the liberal free market. The Green Liberals too, usually sympathetic to environmental issues, called the initiative “unworkable”.
According to the environment minister, Albert Rösti (SVP), the no result was “certainly not a no to protecting the environment”. It is undeniable that we need to care for our natural world, he said after the vote, albeit adding that people in Switzerland are unwilling to change their way of life so radically.
“It will not happen overnight”
The Federal Council interpreted the outcome as an endorsement of its environmental and climate policies to date. Carbon emissions are already falling. Rösti wants further progress in promoting innovation and the circular economy. “The switch to sustainable living will not happen overnight.”
Based on the Climate and Innovation Act, which was approved by the electorate two years ago (see “Swiss Review” 4/2023), Switzerland is committed to weaning itself off fossil fuels like oil and gas in order to become carbon-neutral by 2050, in accordance with the Paris Agreement.
Net zero will only be possible if businesses, road users, and private households cut harmful greenhouse gas emissions dramatically. However, the switch to renewable energy has stalled. The initial boom in solar has slowed, electric car sales are declining, and many buildings still have oil heating. Furthermore, the federal government wants to ditch a number of climate programmes due to cost-cutting. Yet the Federal Council was sticking to its “ambitious” climate goals, said the environment minister.
The next federal vote takes place on 28 September 2025. Information on the issues at stake will appear in the next edition of “Swiss Review”.
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