Switzerland votes for new climate change law

Final results from the state broadcaster show 59.1% of voters in favour of legislation to reduce the country's dependence on imported oil and gas

Chunks of ice float in a lake in front of the Rhone Glacier near Goms, Switzerland. AP

A majority of Swiss voters elected to pass a new climate change law on Sunday which will see the country reduce its reliance on imported oil and gas.

Final results released by the public broadcaster SRF showed that 59.1 per cent of voters approved the passing of the bill, while 40.9 per cent voted against it.

“The supporters have reason to rejoice,” Urs Bieri of the GFS Bern Institute told SRF.

“But by no means everyone is in favour of the law. The argument with the costs has brought many ‘no’ votes.”

Recent opinion polls had shown widespread support for the “Federal Act on Climate Protection Targets, Innovation and Strengthening Energy Security” bill, as the Swiss witness the impact of global warming on the country's rapidly melting glaciers.

In the run-up to Sunday's vote, a survey showed despite 63 per cent being prepared to vote in favour of the bill, there was nervousness over the ability of country to quickly replace imported energy with home-grown, green alternatives.

Switzerland imports 75 per cent of its energy. All of its oil and gas comes from abroad.

Climate activists had lobbied for a total block on oil and gas imports by 2050, but the government subsequently opted not to have an outright ban in the final bill.

Instead, the new law will pledge 2 billion Swiss francs ($2.2 billion) over a decade to kick-start the replacement of gas or oil heating systems with greener alternatives.

Opposition from the Right

The right-wing SVP party said the law would create supply problems and send household electricity bills soaring.

SVP leader Marco Chiesa said the bill would effectively be a “electricity-wasting law” driving up energy costs by 400 billion Swiss francs, and have “no impact” on the global climate.

Meanwhile, environmentalists welcomed the triumph of the “yes” vote.

“This victory means that at last the goal of achieving net-zero emissions will be anchored in law. That gives better security for planning ahead and allows our country to take the path towards an exit from fossil fuels,” said Georg Klingler, an expert on climate and energy at Greenpeace Switzerland.

“The result of the vote shows that the citizens of our country are committed to the aim of limiting global warming to 1.5°C in order to preserve as much as possible our glaciers, our water reserves, our agriculture and our prosperity.

“I am very relieved to see that the lies disseminated by the opposite camp during the campaign did not sow the seed of doubt in people,” he added.

Back in April, the World Meteorological Organisation said the economic impact of Switzerland's melting Alpine glaciers would have a serious impact on the country's economy – from loss of tourism and the potential for natural disasters such as landslides, to the possible lowering of river levels that supply hydroelectric power plants.

Swiss glaciers lost 6 per cent of their volume last year, a figure that rang alarm bells for scientists who said a 2 per cent loss due to melting would have been considered extreme.

Between 2001 and 2022, Switzerland's glaciers lost around a third of their volume.