Swiss citizens vote yes to ‘essential’ new climate law

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• Swiss citizens vote in favour of new law to reach net zero emissions by 2050

• A majority of 59 per cent of voters approved the government’s Climate Protection Targets, Innovation and Strengthening Energy Security Act on 18 June. Almost three-quarters of people (74 per cent) backed it in the canton of Geneva, following a record-breakingly hot spring for the wealthy European nation.

• Switzerland is particularly vulnerable to climate change; its temperature was already 2.5°C warmer in the last decade to 2022 than the pre-industrial average. Swiss glaciers experienced record melting last year, losing more than 6 per cent of their volume. And this Spring saw extreme swings between heavy downpours in central and eastern parts, and drought in the south.

• The Climate and Innovation Act - otherwise known as the Climate Protection Law - will bind Switzerland to climate neutrality by 2050. This means that its greenhouse gas emissions cannot exceed the quantity of harmful gases sucked in by its CO2 sinks - from forests to carbon capture technology.