To reduce greenhouse gases as decided in the Kyoto climate agreement, Switzerland adopted in 1999 a law on the reduction of CO2 emissions, called Loi CO2, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20% between 1990 and 2020.
The CO2 law introduces a tax on CO2 emissions from fuel, of which a third is used to subsidize energy renovations for buildings ; the rest contributes to AVS and medical insurrance. Companies can choose to pay the CO2 tax, reduce their emissions or buy carbon certificates.
To cover the period between 2020 and 2030 and to fulfil Switzerland's pledges in the Paris climate agreement, a revision of the CO2 law has been proposed by the Conseil fédéral.
The revision of the CO2 law lacks ambition !
For transports :
- The law relies on taxing more polluting cars and petrol to reduce emissions, but this will not be enough. We need real measures to reduce the number of kilomters we drive in cars.
- Instead of reducing our transport emissions, we buy compensations abroad for more than 70 millions francs per year. This money should be used for investments in Switzerland !
For buildings :
- We must forbid mazout or gaz heating as soon as possible, to give a clear sign to the building industrie and building owners.
- We must continue subventions after 2025.
For air travel :
- Plans to develop air travel even further don't make sense in our climte policy.
- A tax on plane tickets would respect the principle of the "pollueur - payeur" and allow us to invest to improve rail transport for distances below 1000 kilometers.
The level proposed for national reductions is too low, at 30%. For the remaining 20% of reductions, the Swiss government wants to buy emissions certificates abroad. We should reduce 50% of emissions directly in Switzerland.
The CO2 law...
