Switzerland resoundingly rejects increased funding for climate policies
The vote against the initiative was 70.7% according to official results in a referendum with a turnout of 55.5%.
Climate agenda
Swiss voters rejected a proposal on Sunday to create a multibillion-dollar climate fund aimed at boosting the energy transition. The proposal was met with a resounding rejection.
The vote against was 70.7% according to official results in a referendum that had a turnout of 55.5%. Under Switzerland's system of direct democracy, 100,000 signatures are needed to put virtually any issue to a popular vote.
This gives voters a say on a wide range of issues every few months at the national, regional and local levels.
According to the initiative launched by the Social Democratic Party and the Greens, the country would have spent between 0.5% and 1.0% of Switzerland's annual GDP (between 4 billion and 8 billion Swiss francs, or $5 billion to $10 billion) on the climate agenda.
The idea was to move the country closer to its goal of "carbon neutrality" by 2050.
Government also against
They pointed out that the country already spends about 2 billion francs a year - out of a budget of about 90 billion francs - on the climate agenda.
In this regard, Environment Minister Albert Rösti argued that "voters have today confirmed Switzerland's current energy and environmental policy." Rösti mentioned four laws passed in recent months and years: the Climate and Innovation Act, the Act for a Secure Electricity Supply with Renewable Energies, the revised CO2 Act and amendments to the Environmental Protection Act. "These laws must now be implemented in a coherent manner," Rösti said in remarks reported by Swissinfo.ch.
LATEST
