2023-05-19 07:35:27
Comment
The “climate law”, a vital minimum for Switzerland
The law proposed on June 18 responds in part to climate concerns. A compromise, which makes it possible to move forward in the energy transition.
Updated
Global warming is raising the temperature of debates in Switzerland…
Getty Images/iStockphoto
There is an obvious relationship between the CO₂ law, which was refused by 51.6% by the people in June 2021, and the “climate law” which will be voted on on June 18. Both imply that Switzerland acts on the reduction of greenhouse gases and assumes its responsibilities within the framework of the international fight against global warming. Because Switzerland has ratified, like 196 other stakeholders, the Paris Agreement which entered into force in 2016.
From 2024, signatory countries will have to report on the measures taken and the progress made in terms of mitigating climate change. The Climate Protection Act falls within this context and sets objectives and sectoral levels in order to achieve “net zero emissions” of greenhouse gases by 2050.
It seems far away and at the same time, it’s almost tomorrow. The first difficulty is that this energy transition requires long-term willpower, while everyone has big short-term worries. The results of the 2021 vote show that the population has not yet taken the measure of the marathon that has begun. Admittedly, a majority of people have become aware of the climate problem, but when it comes to changing behavior, that’s another story. Especially in transport, where gasoline seems untouchable.
Switzerland is not a thousandth of the world
In its usual role of “neinsager”, the UDC wants to cast a wide net against this law which it has renamed “Law on the waste of electricity”. We will no longer be able to eat enough meat, rents will increase, cars will be reserved for the rich or young people will be deprived of TikTok. The SVP insists on the argument that Switzerland, representing only one thousandth of the world’s population, is powerless against the big polluters of the planet. But Switzerland is not a thousandth of the world in everything, especially in terms of international finance and commodity trading.
With its usual aggressiveness, the SVP leads a rearguard fight by defending those who have economic interests in the trade of fossil fuels, petrol pumps or oil heaters. His concern for people’s wallets varies greatly. When it comes to defending the interests of consumers, policyholders or employees in Parliament, it is rarely there.
On June 18, if the people were to say no to this law stamped “climate”, it would obviously not be the end of the world. But it would be a missed opportunity to have triggered in Switzerland a dynamic towards an energy transition – which will take the time it takes – but for which we would have at least set some milestones.
1684482165
#Comment #climate #law #vital #minimum #Switzerland