Swiss citizens voted today to defend their glaciers. With 58.7% of the “Yes” votes, a referendum passed in defense of the Alpine peaks which asks the government to achieve climate neutrality by 2050, i.e. achieve net zero emissions of greenhouse gases, so as to mitigate the effects of climate change caused by man and the excessive consumption of fossil fuels.
A figure to understand the situation and the importance of the referendum held today in Switzerland: the country has lost half the volume of its glaciers in the last century. The cause is man-made climate change, so much so that in recent years the crisis is becoming increasingly intense: between 2016 and 2022, 12% of the volume was lost.
Citizens thus confirm the government’s plan and the requests of the scientific community. Even if the first criticisms are already coming from the opposition and from some industrial circles: according to the spokesman of the Democratic Union of the Center, Pierre-André Page, he expressed fears about the increase in electricity prices and the risks for supply. In fact, the Swiss energy mix is already heavily based on renewable energy today. In 2020, around 76% of the electricity consumed in Switzerland came from renewable energy sources: 66% from large hydroelectric plants and around 10.3% from photovoltaics, wind, small hydroelectric plants and biomass. On the other hand, 20% came from nuclear energy and almost 2% from waste and fossil fuels. Therefore, the road to reducing emissions to zero has already begun.
According to monitoring by Net Zero Tracker, 148 of the 198 countries that are part of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change have declared their intention to achieve climate neutrality. Together they account for 88% of global emissions and 85% of the world‘s population. Most of them want to reach the target by 2050. But some countries are more ambitious: Finland hopes to reach net-zero emissions by 2035 and Germany by 2045. China and Russia, two of the world‘s largest emitters, aim to 2060. While in many states the targets were simply announced by the government, in some states the target has become law. Adding Switzerland to the list, 26 countries have legislated for climate neutrality including France, Germany, Spain, Denmark, Japan and South Korea.
Two more federal referendums were approved in Switzerland today. One concerns the introduction of a minimum tax of 15% for large internationally active companies, the other the extension of the Covid-19 law until 2024.