Switzerland

Critically Insufficient4°C+ World

NDCs with this rating fall well outside of a country’s “fair share” range and are not at all consistent with holding warming to below 2°C let alone with the Paris Agreement’s stronger 1.5°C limit. If all government NDCs were in this range, warming would exceed 4°C. For sectors, the rating indicates that the target is consistent with warming of greater than 4°C if all other sectors were to follow the same approach.

Highly insufficient< 4°C World

NDCs with this rating fall outside of a country’s “fair share” range and are not at all consistent with holding warming to below 2°C let alone with the Paris Agreement’s stronger 1.5°C limit. If all government NDCs were in this range, warming would reach between 3°C and 4°C. For sectors, the rating indicates that the target is consistent with warming between 3°C and 4°C if all other sectors were to follow the same approach.

Insufficient< 3°C World

NDCs with this rating are in the least stringent part of a country’s “fair share” range and not consistent with holding warming below 2°C let alone with the Paris Agreement’s stronger 1.5°C limit. If all government NDCs were in this range, warming would reach over 2°C and up to 3°C. For sectors, the rating indicates that the target is consistent with warming over 2°C and up to 3°C if all other sectors were to follow the same approach.

2°C Compatible< 2°C World

NDCs with this rating are consistent with the 2009 Copenhagen 2°C goal and therefore fall within a country’s “fair share” range, but are not fully consistent with the Paris Agreement long term temperature goal. If all government NDCs were in this range, warming could be held below, but not well below, 2°C and still be too high to be consistent with the Paris Agreement 1.5°C limit. For sectors, the rating indicates that the target is consistent with holding warming below, but not well below, 2°C if all other sectors were to follow the same approach.

1.5°C Paris Agreement Compatible< 1.5°C World

This rating indicates that a government’s NDCs in the most stringent part of its “fair share” range: it is consistent with the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C limit. For sectors, the rating indicates that the target is consistent with the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C limit.

Role model<< 1.5°C World

This rating indicates that a government’s NDC is more ambitious than what is considered a “fair” contribution: it is more than consistent with the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C limit. No “role model” rating has been developed for the sectors.

1.5°C Compatible< 1.5°C World

Summary table

Paris Agreement target

The Swiss government ratified the Paris Agreement in 2017. Its NDC commits Switzerland to an emissions reduction of 50% by 2030. It anticipates an emissions reduction of 35% below 1990 levels by 2025. The recommendation from the Federal Council is that at least 30% is to be achieved domestically, and the rest through emissions reductions abroad (Bundesamt für Energie, 2016).

Like the EU’s NDC, Switzerland’s NDC includes LULUCF, for which the details of the accounting rules have yet to be decided. The NDC states the wish to use a reference level for forest land, while emissions for other land uses will be included in both the target and baseline years. If we simply assume that the accounted LULUCF emissions in 2030 are the same as the projected LULUCF emissions (i.e. the forest reference level would be set at zero), this would result in about 1MtCO₂e; the impact of LULUCF is negligible for Switzerland.

Switzerland intends to use carbon credits from international mechanisms (Clean Development Mechanism, as well as new market mechanisms under the Convention, such as NMM and activities under the FVA), and states it will apply quality criteria that are at least in line with those of Switzerland’s current national legislation.

2020 pledge and Kyoto target

Switzerland agreed to sign up to the Kyoto Protocol for a second commitment period (2013–2020), as proposed at the COP 18 in Doha. Switzerland submitted a QELRO¹ level of 84.2, meaning its average yearly emissions for the period 2013–2020 will be 84.2% of 1990 levels.

Switzerland's commitment under the Convention (Copenhagen Pledge) for 2020 is to reduce emissions by between 20% and 30% below 1990 level. While the 20% reduction commitment is unconditional, the 30% is conditional on a global and comprehensive climate agreement. According to Switzerland’s submission, such an agreement would include other developed countries pledging comparable emissions reductions, and developing countries contributing according to their capabilities. In its 6th National Communication Switzerland restated the 20% reduction commitment, with the possibility that this “could be increased up to 30%”.

¹ The quantified emission limitation and reduction objectives (QELRO), expressed as a percentage in relation to a base year, denotes the average level of emissions that an Annex B Party could emit on an annual basis during a given commitment period

Long-term goal

Switzerland’s NDC contains an indicative long-term goal to reduce emissions by 2050 to 70%–85% below 1990 levels by 2050, including use of international credits.