Swiss citizens have convincingly rejected a proposal to limit emissions and the consumption of natural resources, known as the environmental responsibility initiative. Other regional initiatives also failed to pass in the referendums held on Sunday, February 9. 

Swiss voters say no to environmental responsibility initiative

The scale of the rejection was in fact more resounding than the polls leading up to Sunday’s vote had predicted. 69,84 percent of voters said “no” to the environmental responsibility initiative, and not one Swiss canton voted in favour of the proposal - although it did receive a majority backing in some municipalities, including Vevey, Lausanne, Neuchâtel and Biel/Bienne.

On a cantonal level, the closest result was to be found in Basel-Stadt, where only 54,66 percent of voters were against the proposal. The most resounding rejection took place in Canton Schwyz, where 84,59 percent of votes were cast against the proposal. Overall turnout was 38 percent, below the average of 45 percent. 

The “drastic” proposal called for an amendment to the Swiss constitution to require the economy to respect “planetary boundaries”. This would require serious curbs on CO2 emissions - Greenpeace Switzerland estimated that per capita carbon emissions would have to be reduced by 90 percent - all within a 10-year timeframe. 

On Sunday, the Young Greens, who tabled the initiative, said that the result marked a victory for “defenders of the status quo”, and accused the opposition campaign of using “scaremongering” tactics. Other supporting parties, however, said that the result showed there was an appetite for environmental responsibility in Switzerland, just not in this form. 

Regional referendums fail to pass

Other initiatives included in Sunday’s votes similarly failed to gain much support. Solothurn and Basel-Landschaft both rejected proposals calling for a minimum wage, although the latter did vote in favour of an initiative calling for a reform of the cantonal electoral system.  

Voters in Lucerne rejected a proposal to lower the voting age from 18 to 16, with nearly 80 percent of votes cast against the initiative. In Canton Bern, an initiative to require all buildings to be fitted with solar panels by 2040 was rejected, but a counter-proposal that watered down the requirement to apply to new buildings only was passed. 

Finally, Canton Schaffhausen rejected a proposal to amend the Law on Road Traffic Taxes, which would essentially have introduced vehicle taxes for electric vehicles, while Canton Fribourg voted in favour of building a new storage facility for the canton’s cultural assets.