zurich Christian Mumenthaler doesn’t shy away from making clear selection recommendations. The head of Swiss Re, the world’s second-largest reinsurer, wrote on his LinkedIn career network that he himself had “cast a firm ‘yes’ at the ballot box” on June 18 when it came to climate protection laws.
Christoph Mäder, president of the Economiesuisse association, made a similar statement: The Swiss economy supports the government’s goal of not emitting any climate-damaging greenhouse gases by 2050.
Mäder is therefore calling on people to vote for the planned climate protection law in the upcoming referendum on Sunday. “It is crucial that we avoid ideological trench warfare and work together,” Mäder said.
The calls seem to be working: According to current surveys, more than 60% want to approve the government’s proposed climate protection law.
German Federal Minister of Economic Affairs Robert Habeck (Greens) can only dream of such survey figures and similar public economic support these days. His heating laws have split the traffic light government, sparked criticism from the middle class and helped the AfD fly higher.
Habeck’s Greens has goals similar to those of the Swiss government, such as switching to a modern heating system that no longer uses only gas or oil.
Government pledges billions in funding
But while the coalition nearly collapsed over Harbeck’s heating law, the federal government has persuaded all parties except the right-wing conservative Swiss People’s Party (SVP) to go into climate protection.
Even the Liberal Democrats support it, although most Liberal voters are skeptical. How does Swiss politics manage to do this?
“The Climate Protection Act sets clear targets, but there are no prohibitions,” said Martin Bäumle, member of the National Committee of the Green Liberal Party. It is important to support businesses and citizens in making the law as “technology-neutral” as possible.
This makes it harder for the “no” camp to present climate protection laws as a hodgepodge of bans. Right-wing conservative senior vice-presidents mobilized against the project under the slogan “Gigger Law.”
Senior Vice President Councilor Christian Imak said: “It is correct that the Electricity Consumers Act does not provide for a ban on gasoline or oil and gas heating systems. But it is a logical consequence if such an aggressive goal is to be pursued. Otherwise It won’t work.”
Specifically, the law provides for segmenting the Paris climate goals that Switzerland has also committed to. For example, from 2031, greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced by at least 64% compared to 1990 levels.
(Photo: IMAGO/Andreas Haas)
Specifically, the law provides for segmenting the Paris climate goals that Switzerland has also committed to. Binding interim targets have also been set: for example, greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced by at least 64% from 1990 levels from 2031 and by a maximum of 75% by 2040.
To achieve this, the Swiss federal government wants to invest heavily: it is offering 200 million francs (about 205 million euros) a year over the next ten years to help homeowners replace their heating systems.
Companies can apply for additional funding of CHF 200 million a year over six years to convert their production to climate neutrality.
Bäumle describes what this means: “The net-zero target means that oil or gas heating will only run on synthetic fuels in the future.”.
Similar to liquidity. Bäumle expects battery drive to prevail in cars. In the case of trucks, it could also be e-fuel. “It is important that laws create market incentives,” Bäumle said.
Referendum forces early cooperation
Most Swiss voters are critical of the state’s demands on which technology is preferable and how much CO2 emissions should be reduced. This became evident two years ago: in June 2021, the government failed to pass the CO2 emissions law. Among other things, it provides detailed CO2 reduction targets for all sectors.
One of the lessons politicians have learned from failure: “We no longer plan to have one law that regulates everything,” explains Bäumle. Current climate protection law is about agreeing on binding fundamental goals.
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Once this agreement has been reached, it will then be a matter of enacting further legislation and detailed measures. These must always be valid in referendums.
The prospect of every law being overturned by a referendum forced politicians to involve various interest groups — including corporations — at an early stage.
GLP politician Bäumle says a lot has been done in the background to drive the economy forward. “We don’t paint these companies as something negative, but work together to make compromises.” In Germany, he sometimes gets the impression that the government and parliament make decisions and the economy only knows afterward.
more: The Swiss have a choice – why most parties are now in favor of introducing an OECD minimum tax