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June 18, 2023 vote

SWISSAID says YES to the Climate Protection Act

SWISSAID supports the Climate Protection Act. Poor countries in the South are particularly exposed to the consequences of global warming: The increasingly frequent droughts and heavy rainfall there are making people’s already precarious living conditions more difficult. With a YES vote on June 18, Switzerland commits to achieving the net zero emissions target by 2050 and thus takes a step towards greater climate justice.

The climate crisis spares no one. Melting glaciers, hot summers, torrential rain – Switzerland is severely affected. In the Global South, extreme weather events are having an even more dangerous impact on the population, as SWISSAID notes on a daily basis. The unstable climatic conditions threaten the work of farming families and thus access to food for large sections of the population.

Faced with increasing food insecurity and a lack of prospects, people are forced to leave their homes, their farms and lose their roots. They are the ones most affected by climate change, even though they have hardly contributed to it. For example, Africa accounts for only about 2 to 3 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Markus Allemann

The World Climate Report shows that agricultural productivity is declining overall as the climate warms. Producing enough healthy, diverse food will become more difficult with increasing drought and unpredictable weather – on the one hand for us, but especially for smallholder families in poor countries. But nutrition is also part of the solution if we are to eat a more climate-friendly, ecological diet.

Markus Allemann, Executive Director of SWISSAID

Two measures

The main sectors affected by the law would be buildings, transport and industry. The law does not provide for taxes, but introduces two main measures: On the one hand, the federal government enacts a budget of two billion francs for ten years (200 million per year) for the replacement of heating systems that run on oil, gas or electricity. On the other hand, so-called innovative, environmentally friendly technologies are to be promoted. To this end, 200 million francs per year for six years are earmarked for industrial and commercial enterprises.

This law gives Switzerland the opportunity to send a clear message: Yes to saving our planet, Yes to contributing to the fight against the climate crisis, Yes to solidarity.

Link to the campaign website: YES to the climate protection law!

Protect what is important to us! The climate crisis affects everyone. It threatens our livelihood. The Climate Protection Act sets clear climate targets. It protects what is important to us. Because doing nothing makes the climate damage worse. The counter-proposal to the Glacier Initiative focuses on the promotion of innovations and the replacement of heating systems and building renovations. This will also benefit trade and industry. The dependence on fossil energies will end. We say YES on June 18!