Almost 60% of voters backed the new law, which will force the country to drastically reduce its reliance on imported oil and gas.
The Swiss voted in a referendum this Sunday (June 18, 2023) for carbon neutrality by 2050, in a country feeling the effects of global warming on melting its glaciers.
According to the final result, 59.1% of voters backed the new law, which will force the country to drastically reduce its dependence on imported oil and gas.
The new law also implies a commitment to developing more environmentally friendly alternatives.
Among the various measures included in the approved proposal is an aid package worth more than €3.2 billion over 10 years to replace gas or oil heating with loweremission systems and to support companies’ technological innovation.
Netzero emissions is synonymous with carbon neutrality, or carbon neutrality, which is achieved when the amount of CO2 emitted into the atmosphere is less than or equal to the amount of CO2 removed through various means.
energy security
In a second referendum, 78.5% of citizens also backed a 15% tax on large multinationals, early polls show. The turnout for both referendums was around 42%.
Recent polls have shown strong support for the carbon neutrality proposal, although the rightwing Swiss People’s Party (SVP) has warned that such a law could hurt the economy.
Proponents of the “Federal Law on Climate Protection Targets, Innovation and Strengthening Energy Security” argue instead that laws to ensure energy security are necessary.
They also argued that this would help combat the effects of climate change, reflected in the dramatic melting of glaciers in the Swiss Alps, which lost a third of their volume between 2001 and 2022.
Leading Swiss glaciologist Matthias Huss, who monitors glacier retreat, hailed the “strong signal” of the finding on Twitter and said he was “very glad that the arguments of climate science have been heard”.