Switzerland

Switzerland’s efforts to tackle climate change were struck a blow after the Swiss people voted against the adoption of the amended CO₂ Act in a June 2021 public referendum. Under current policies, Switzerland is projected to miss even its not specified, less ambitious estimated domestic target of a 30% to 33% reduction below 1990 levels.

The CAT rates Switzerland’s current policies as “Insufficient” when compared to modelled domestic pathways. The “Insufficient” rating indicates that Switzerland’s climate policies and action until 2030 need substantial improvements to be consistent with limiting warming to 1.5°C. If all countries were to follow Switzerland’s approach, warming would reach over 2°C and up to 3°C.

If Switzerland passes the amended CO₂ Succession Act as included in our planned policies projections, the CAT would rate Switzerland’s climate policies and action it “Almost sufficient”. The “Almost sufficient” rating indicates that Switzerland’s climate policies and action in 2030 are not yet consistent with limiting warming to 1.5°C but could be, with moderate improvements. If all countries were to follow Switzerland’s approach, warming could be held at—but not well below—2°C.

Further information on how the CAT rates countries (against modelled pathways and fair share) can be found here.

Switzerland’s emissions were 43 MtCO₂e in 2021 and are expected to fall slightly to around 39 MtCO₂e by 2030 (excluding LULUCF) under current policies. This projected reduction is equivalent to a 27% reduction below 1990 levels (excluding LULUCF). Switzerland is therefore not projected to meet its estimated target of a 30% to 33% reduction in domestic emissions below 1990 levels under current policies. However, it may partially meet its overall NDC of a 50% reduction below 1990 levels through the use of carbon credits from international mechanisms.

CO₂ and Climate Protection Act

The CO₂ Act is the key policy regarding emissions reductions in Switzerland. To implement the Paris Agreement in Swiss legislation, the government presented an amendment of the CO₂ Act (known as Total Revision) in 2020–2021, which would have made the 2030 NDC target a legally binding (Schweizer Parlament, 2020). This Act was rejected after the referendum in 2021, forcing Switzerland to extend its expired CO₂ Act to 2024 and start a process of drafting a new amendment.

The process of drafting and holding consultations on a new amendment of the CO₂ Act (known as CO₂ Succession Act) is ongoing as of June 2023. A first published draft already included substantially weaker provisions than the original version (Swiss Confederation, 2021a). Several draft versions have been circulated and they appear to have decreased ambition in every round; i.e. a 33% domestic emissions reduction target was reported in a 2021 draft (Der Bundesrat, 2021) but in the latest draft of the law (2022) this has been revoked, instead stating that the Federal Council determines the domestic share (Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft, 2022d).

Switzerland’s 5th Biennial Report, released in September 2021, includes a planned policy scenario (“with additional measures, WAM”) which includes those currently being discussed in the updated CO₂ Succession Act. Those measures are projected to lead to a 33–38% reduction in total GHGs by 2030, enough to meet its current estimated domestic target.

On 18 June 2023, the Swiss people will vote on another important piece of legislation, the Federal Act on Climate Protection Objectives, Innovation and Enhancement of Energy Security (the Climate Protection Act). It enshrines the net-zero emissions target for Switzerland by 2050 in law and sets interim and sectoral targets.

The Climate Protection Act furthermore promotes innovation by providing technical support and funding for companies developing roadmaps to achieve the net zero target. The policy aims to address energy security through a specific programme that funds the replacement of fossil-fuel and electric resistance heating systems with renewable alternatives and improving building energy efficiency. Additional measures also focus on adaptation. It is however mainly a framework law, thus it mandates the parliament to work out more concrete objectives and measures to meet them.

Carbon Levy

Switzerland’s most relevant cross-sectoral climate policy is the carbon levy charged on fossil fuels. Due to a slower than expected decrease in emissions, the fee was increased in 2018 from CHF 84 (USD 91) to CHF 96 (USD 104) per tonne of CO₂ and raised to CHF 120 (USD 130) in 2022 as emissions have not dropped sufficiently (Swiss Broadcasting Corporation, 2021).

The CO₂ Succession Act proposed no further increases of the carbon levy in the buildings sector in the future. The Act further proposes to avoided other taxes altogether in favour of tax incentives and funding instruments in the transport, buildings, and industry sectors. The emphasis of Swiss Climate Policy is increasingly focussing on incentives rather than restrictions. An example are the many exemptions from the CO₂ levy, such as whether a plant operator commits to reducing emissions by 2040, to avoid another rejection at the ballot.

The majority of the proceeds from the levy is reimbursed to the citizens. Under the rejected version of the CO₂ Act, CHF 300m (USD 330m) of the remaining annual revenue had been proposed to be spent on emissions reduction in the buildings sector, and a further CHF 25m (USD 27.5m) on the Technology Fund (Der Bundesrat, 2012). In amended versions of the CO₂ Succession Act this component of the building sector was first raised to maximum CHF 420m (USD 454m) and then to CHF 470m, as it is now also covered in the Climate Protection Act (Swiss Confederation, 2021a) (Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft, 2022c). The current proposal for the technology fund is maximum CHF 35m with an additional maximum CHF 45m for the deployment of renewables (Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft, 2022c).

Emissions Trading Scheme

Another cross-sectoral instrument influencing greenhouse gas emissions is Switzerland’s emissions trading scheme (ETS). Companies participating in the ETS are excluded from an obligation to pay the emissions levy.

In March 2019, after two years of negotiations, the Swiss Parliament adopted a law linking the Swiss ETS with the European EU ETS, which came into effect on 1 January 2020. While both systems continue to function separately, the emissions certificates can now be used interchangeably between the two systems (Bundesamt für Umwelt, 2019).

After linking with the EU ETS, the price of Swiss emissions allowances broadly aligned with the higher EU allowance prices, which will accelerate emissions reductions by the emitters responsible for a third of emissions resulting from the combustion of fossil fuels (EEX, 2019; Swiss Federal Audit Office, 2017). In November 2019, the Federal Council expanded the scope of the Swiss ETS to include civil aviation and fossil-thermal power plants (ICAP, 2020).

Sectoral pledges

In Glasgow, a number of sectoral initiatives were launched to accelerate climate action. At most, these initiatives may close the 2030 emissions gap by around 9% - or 2.2 GtCO₂e though assessing what is new and what is already covered by existing NDC targets is challenging.

For methane, signatories agreed to cut emissions in all sectors by 30% globally over the next decade. The coal exit initiative seeks to transition away from unabated coal power by the 2030s or 2040s and to cease building new coal plants. Signatories of the 100% EVs declaration agreed that 100% of new car and van sales in 2040 should be electric vehicles, 2035 for leading markets, and on forests, leaders agreed “to halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030”. The Beyond Oil & Gas Alliance (BOGA) seeks to facilitate a managed phase out of oil and gas production.

NDCs should be updated to include these sectoral initiatives, if they're not already covered by existing NDC targets. As with all targets, implementation of the necessary policies and measures is critical to ensuring that these sectoral objectives are actually achieved.

• Methane pledge: Switzerland signed the methane pledge at COP26, a significant commitment given its high agricultural methane emissions. A commitment to target a reduction in methane emissions, however, has not been included in Switzerland’s 2021 NDC, despite making up 13% of Switzerland’s total GHG emissions in 2021 (Swiss Confederation, 2023). A 30% reduction in methane emissions below 2020 levels by 2030 would represent a decline of 1.4 MtCO₂e. There have been no recent policy developments to target further reductions.
• Coal exit: Switzerland did not sign up to the coal exit agreement at COP26. However, there is no coal-fired power generation in Switzerland. Consequently, there is no mention of coal phase-out, nor a targeting of coal-related emissions in Switzerland’s NDC.
• 100% EVs: Switzerland did not adopt the EV pledge at COP26, despite seeing strong growth in EV sales in 2022, with Switzerland having an EV share of sales (26%) above the EU27 average (22%) (European Commission, 2023)Click or tap here to enter text..
• Forestry: Switzerland signed the forestry pledge at COP26. Its most recent NDC does not refer to a specific target for forestry emissions, nor for halting deforestation. Its recently updated forest plan also does not include quantitative targets for reducing emissions from this sector, nor realising net negative emissions.

Switzerland has the lowest carbon intensity of energy in the OECD (IEA, 2021), owing to its highly decarbonised power system. In 2021, over 97% of electricity in Switzerland was generated from zero carbon sources, mainly from hydro (59%, mostly hydro) and nuclear (31%); the renewable share shown in Figure 1 (IEA, 2023). The Swiss power sector has been included in the ETS since 1 January 2020, but this only affects a small number of operators given the sector’s highly decarbonised nature.

The Energy Strategy 2050 became the key law in the energy sector when it replaced the previous Energy law. The energy strategy withstood a public referendum in 2017 and contains a package of measures aiming at increasing energy efficiency, reduction of CO₂ emissions, and steadily replacing nuclear energy with renewables (Bundesamt für Energie, 2018).

It also sets benchmarks for the expansion of electricity production from renewable energy for 2020 and 2035. Switzerland exceeded the 2020 benchmarks for non-hydro renewables, but electricity generation from non-hydro renewables must increase by 450 GWh annually to meet the 2035 benchmarks of 11.4 TWh (Bundesamt für Energie, 2021). By 2035 electricity generation from hydro power plants should increase slightly from 36.3 TWh in 2020 to 37.4 TWh in 2035 (Bundesamt für Energie, 2021).

The law also prohibits the construction of new nuclear power plants and states that nuclear energy shall steadily be replaced by renewables. The first of Switzerland's five nuclear power plants was shut down in December 2019, there is no schedule for the other four. The law sets the goal of decreasing per capita electricity consumption by 13% and energy consumption by 43% below 2000 levels by 2035. It also introduces some changes to feed-in tariffs for renewables, including shortening the period during which installations receive the tariffs from 20 to 15 years (Die Bundesversammlung der Schweizerischen Eidgenossenschaf, 2018; VSE, 2019).

In June 2021, the Federal Act on a Secure Electricity Supply with Renewable Energies was launched to set out the necessary amendments to the Energy Act and the Electricity Supply Act. It includes additional renewable installation targets beyond 2035 but mainly focuses on measures to expand renewables such as a complete liberalisation of the electricity market, continuation of existing grid surcharges and support instruments for renewable generation, and a shift to more market-oriented support mechanisms (i.e. introduction of competitive tenders and investment contributions and phase-out of feed-in tariff) (Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft, 2021). Within the context of this law, a mandatory construction of rooftop PV for new buildings was adopted in 2022. The full law is currently going through parliament.

For energy security reasons, Switzerland is highly dependent on trade power with its neighbouring countries. Since 2007, non-EU member Switzerland has been negotiating with the EU to form an agreement to better integrate its own market with the EU electricity market. When negotiations on institutional bilateral agreements between Switzerland and the EU were abruptly terminated in 2021 (based on non-energy/climate related issues), discussions on Switzerland’s access to the European electricity market were also put on hold. As a result, Swissgrid, the Swiss grid company, has to negotiate technical, private-law agreements with European transmission system operators.

Emissions from manufacturing industries, construction and industrial processes and product use (IPPU), accounted for 19% of Switzerland’s CO₂ emissions in 2021. These levels are 20% lower than in 1990 except the emissions from Industrial Processes and Product Use (IPPU), which remain stable (Swiss Confederation, 2023). If the public referendum on Switzerland's Climate Protection Act scheduled for 18 June 2023 passes, Switzerland will have emissions reductions targets for the industry sector to reduce emissions by 50% by 2040 and by 90% by 2050 (below 1990 levels) (Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft, 2023b).

Most GHG emission reduction policies and measures affecting Switzerland’s industry sector are implemented under the CO₂ Act and cover CO₂ emissions from fossil fuel use. These include the CO₂ levy on heating and process fuels, the Swiss ETS, and the negotiated reduction commitments.

A number of key non-CO₂ emissions, however, are not covered under the Act, and have been targeted separately. For example, a number of provisions relating to substances stable in the atmosphere cover all F-gases and are expected to result in a reduction of roughly 1.1 MtCO₂e in emissions of such gases in 2020 (Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft, 2020b).

Similar to the EU, Switzerland also uses an ETS to lower emissions from large, energy-intensive entities. However, the Swiss ETS is much smaller than the European ETS, not only because of the smaller market but also due to the fact that the emissions generated by 54 companies in the power, cement, pharmaceutical, refinery, paper, district heating, and steel sectors covered by the scheme represent only 10% of the country’s emissions. Emissions from the sector were capped in 2013 at 5.63 MtCO₂, and required to reduce by 1.74% per year in order to reach a target of 4.91 MtCO₂ in 2020 (13% reduction on 2013 levels) (Mission of Switzerland to the European Union, 2017). From 2021, the annual required rate of reduction rose to 2.2% of the 2010 baseline, which applies until 2030 (Federal Office of the Environment, 2020).

To deal with the allowances’ price volatility, in 2011 the European Commission and Swiss government opened negotiations on linking both carbon markets. While the price of allowances has been increasing in the EU ETS and averaged over EUR 25 in 2019, the price of Swiss allowances fell from CHF 40 (USD 44) in 2014 to CHF 8 (USD 8.8) in 2018. In March 2019, the Swiss Parliament adopted a law linking the Swiss emissions trading scheme with the European EU ETS (Bundesamt für Umwelt, 2019), and as a result, the price of Swiss allowances rose to CHF 18.2 (USD 20) by the end of 2019 (Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft, 2020a). The schemes were officially linked on 1 January 2020 and ensured high allowance prices in the Swiss ETS moving forward.

Emissions from the transport sector were responsible for 30% of Switzerland’s total GHG emissions in 2021, almost exclusively from road transport (Swiss Confederation, 2023). Since peaking in 2008, transport emissions have steadily been decreasing and in 2020 they fell below 1990 levels for the first time since 1996, primarily due to lower car travel during the COVID-19 pandemic. Emissions only slightly rebounded in 2021, remaining at 6% below 1990 levels. If the June 18, 2023 public referendum on Switzerland's Climate Protection Act passes, Switzerland will have emissions reductions targets for the transport sector to reduce emissions by 57% by 2040 and by 100% by 2050 (below 1990 levels) (Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft, 2023b).

In response to the COVID-19 crisis, the aviation industry received bank guarantees of almost CHF 2 bn with the requirement that the aviation companies cooperate in the development of future climate policy (Schweizer Parliament, 2020b). The Federal Council failed to pass other, more concrete and binding requirements. For example, a stipulation that airlines must reduce their emissions in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement was rejected, as was a condition that emergency funds received must be used in a way that contributes towards the achievement of net-zero emissions. A proposal requiring airlines to participate in the development of sustainable e-fuels was also rejected.

The inclusion of domestic and international aviation between Switzerland and member states of the European Economic Area (EEA) into Switzerland’s ETS since 1 January 2020 is a significant policy development, with emissions from the sector in the scheme to be capped at 2018 levels (Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft, 2020b). In addition, from 2020 for new designs, and from 2023 for in-production models, aircraft in Switzerland will be subject to CO₂ emission reduction targets.

Switzerland also participates in the carbon offsetting and reduction scheme for international civil aviation (CORSIA), under which emissions are capped at 2019 levels. Despite becoming more stringent in 2024, this scheme has significant shortcomings, meaning it is unlikely to deliver the substantial reductions needed to achieve the ICAO’s aspirational goal of carbon neutral growth from 2020.

Within the framework of the new CO₂ Succession Act, the introduction of a sustainable aviation fuel blending mandate is planned, in coordination with the EU’s ReFuel programme from 2025. Also discussed in the same Act are instruments to support the conversion of diesel-powered buses and ships to fossil free alternatives (Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft, 2022d).

In 2012, Switzerland adopted a regulation that included the goals of reducing emissions for newly-registered passenger cars in alignment with EU vehicle emissions regulations (Swiss Federal Office of Energy, 2019). Since 2021, as with the latest EU regulations, the emissions of new cars cannot exceed 118 gCO₂/km (Bundesamt für Energie BFE, 2022).

The current draft of the CO₂ Succession Act introduces a quantitative emissions reduction target for the period after 2025 aligned with those of the EU: passenger vehicles first placed on the market in the years 2025–2029: a maximum of 85 percent and after 2030 a maximum of 45 percent (Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft, 2022d). It also introduces a new penalty for exceedance of emissions limits at CHF 95 to CHF 152 for each gram of CO₂/km exceeding the individual target (Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft, 2022d), a range that is overall lower than the current levy of CHF 142.50.

Given the very low emissions intensity of Switzerland’s power sector, a shift to electric mobility has an even higher impact on overall emission reductions. In 2022, 26% of all new passenger cars sold in Switzerland were electrically chargeable vehicles, which includes battery-only (18%) and plug-in hybrid (8%) vehicles (European Commission, 2023).

Although the uptake of electric vehicles is accelerating, their share of new sales in Switzerland remains significantly below that of some countries with a comparable level of income that make electric cars more affordable (e.g. 56% in Sweden, 38% in Finland, 88% in Norway in 2022), and only slightly higher than the EU27 average in 2022 of 22% (European Alternative Fuels Observatory, 2022). However, the share of battery electric vehicles in total car sales alone in 2022 (13%) almost reached the 15% target for 2022 outlined in its Roadmap for Electric Mobility 2022 (Bundesamt für Strassen ASTRA, 2023). When this goal was reached a year ahead of time, a new Roadmap for Electric Mobility 2025 was introduced, with 2025 targets of EV market shares of 50% and of 20,000 charging stations, a doubling in current numbers (Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft, 2023a).

The share of freight transported by rail in Switzerland, which is electrified to 99.8%, in 2020 was, at 37%, much higher than in the EU, which was 18% in 2019 and has a target of 30% by 2030 (Bundesamt für Statistik, 2021). However, it was significantly below the share of freight transported by rail in this country in the 1980s (around 53%). This decreasing trend was especially clearly noticeable in 2017 when the number of products transported by rail decreased by 7% while the number of products transported by road increased by 1.5% (Bundesamt für Statistik, 2018).

In 2020, the buildings sector, including commercial and residential, was responsible for roughly 26% of Switzerland’s total GHG emissions (excl. LULUCF), a decrease from 1990 levels when they represented around 30% of the country’s emissions (Swiss Confederation, 2023). This has been the result of emissions in this sector decreasing much faster—by 37% between 1990 and 2020—than in the case of the overall emissions.

However, this decrease was still not enough to meet the goal of a 40% reduction in emissions below 1990 levels by 2020 that was adopted in the 2012 CO₂ Regulation (Der Bundesrat, 2012). If the June 18 2023 public referendum on Switzerland's Climate Protection Act passes, Switzerland will have targets for the buildings sector to reduce emissions by 82% by 2040 and by 100% by 2050 (below 1990 levels) (Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft, 2023b).

Within this same Climate Protection Act, a programme to replace fossil-fuelled heating systems with renewable energy sources is prominently featured. The programme receives an annual budget of CHF 200 million for 10 years by the Federal Government. Subsidy details and minimum requirements will be defined by the Federal Council (Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft, 2023b).

The focus on heating systems is important and previous efforts have already shown positive results. While 41% of homes were still heated by oil heating systems in 2021, this number has decreased from 59% in 1990. Unfortunately, a substantial share of this reduction has been taken up by other fossil fuels, namely gas (18% in 2021, up from 9% in 1990). Heat pumps are on the rise and already the main heating source in new buildings, accounting for 17% of homes in 2021 (up from only 4.1% in 2000), district heating is also showing an upwards trend albeit at much lower levels (3.6% in 2021) (WWF Schweiz, 2023).

As part of the Energy Strategy 2050, the Federal Council aims at halving the energy consumption of the Swiss building stock to 55 TWh by the middle of the century. This is to be achieved with a comprehensive catalogue of measures, including legal requirements (e.g., cantonal energy regulations), a CO₂ steering tax, the building program and cantonal support programs, voluntary measures by SwissEnergy in the areas of "renewable heating", energy optimisation and strengthening the importance of building standards and building labels.

Switzerland has several energy efficiency labels for buildings, the so called “Minergie” standards. There are three major categories: Minergie houses should not consume more than 55 kWh/m² for new single houses and 90 kWh/m² for renovations. For Minergie-P the standards are 50 kWh/m² and 80 kWh/m² respectively. For Minergie-A the standards are 35 kWh/m² and heating should be zero or below zero.

By May 2023, there were over 55,000 Minergie-certified buildings in Switzerland (Minergie, 2022). These are only certifications and not mandatory standards. Public referenda at the local level to mandate that all new buildings have certain Minergie standards have so far failed to pass.

Emissions from the agriculture sector in 2021 constituted around 13% of total emissions (excluding LULUCF) – representing a roughly constant share of total emissions as they have been decreasing at around the same pace as overall emissions (Swiss Confederation, 2023).

The 2011 Climate Strategy for Agriculture serves as a guideline for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to climate change in the agricultural sector. It aims to reduce agricultural emissions by at least one third by 2050 through technical and organisational measures and also emphasises influencing production structures and consumption patterns. It therefore includes both mitigation and adaptation to climate change in the agricultural sector.

The strategy is currently being revised and is set to include new long-term goals for 2050, aiming to reduce agricultural greenhouse gas emissions by 40% compared to 1990 levels and decrease the greenhouse gas footprint of food consumed by the Swiss population by two-thirds compared to 2020. The strategy will include policies and measures to achieve these goals. However, the plan to make the reduction target mandatory by including it in the third CO₂ Act was dropped after the rejection of the act by the Swiss electorate (Swiss Federal Office for the Environment, 2022).

Switzerland’s Agricultural Policy 2014–2017 and 2018–2021 contained the abolition of unspecific direct payments (livestock subsidies, general acreage payments), additional funds for environmentally friendly production systems, and for the efficient use of resources (e.g., increase in nutrient efficiency and ecological set-aside areas, reduction of ammonia emissions). It is expected to result in reductions of 0.2 MtCO₂e in 2020 (Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft, 2020b). Discussions on a successor to the 2018–2021 policy called AP22+ were placed on hold (Swiss Government, 2021a) and picked up in spring 2023, where all environmental aspects were rejected and only a watered down version managed to pass through parliament. This is a blow as now agri-policy will be stalled until the next phase of AP30 (Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft, 2022b).

Except for a few selected years, forestry constitutes a sink of emissions in Switzerland of between 1–4 MtCO₂ annually. In the business as usual and current policy scenario (without measures and with existing measures) this is expected to remain the case until at least 2035. Under planned policies, however, this is expected to change, with the sector projected to become a source of emissions by as soon as 2025 (-1.1 MtCO₂) and in 2030 to 2035 reaching roughly 1.7 MtCO₂e of emissions per year (Swiss Federal Office for the Environment, 2022). In 2020, 31% of Switzerland’s total area was covered by forests, roughly the same percentage since 2017 (Government of Switzerland, 2022).

The Forest Policy 2021–2024 aims to coordinate the ecological, economic and social demands on forests, managing forests in a sustainable manner. It includes a long-term target of a CO₂ balance between forest sink, wood use and wood substitution effects. Given the current age structure of Swiss forests, this implies increased harvesting rates over the coming years. The targeted annual mitigation impact of the Forest Policy 2021–2024 is 1.2 MtCO₂e (Bundesamt für Umwelt, 2021).

Emissions from the waste sector in Switzerland made up roughly 3% of total GHG emissions (excluding LULUCF) in 2021 and registered an absolute decrease of almost 50% since 1990 (Swiss Confederation, 2023). Since 2000, the disposal of untreated municipal waste into landfill has been prohibited, with an increase in the capacity of waste incineration plants implemented to accommodate this ban (Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft, 2020b). These incineration plants have substantially reduced methane emissions from Swiss landfills and produce roughly 2% of Switzerland’s total energy consumption.

A further measure in the waste sector is the ordinance on the avoidance and management of waste, implemented in 2016, which promotes closed-loop material flows. While a large proportion of Switzerland’s municipal solid waste is already recycled (53% in 2015), further improvements could be made in the reduction of environmental pollution and strengthening the reliability of the waste removal system as a whole (Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft, 2018).