Indicator Climate

The CO₂ levy for fossil thermal fuels is an important instrument for achieving international and national emissions targets. The CO₂ levy rate is raised when degree-day-adjusted CO₂ emissions from thermal fuels exceed the stipulated threshold values. This way, the CO₂ levy was raised in January 2014 from 36 to 60 francs per ton of CO₂, in January 2016 to 84 francs per ton of CO₂, in January 2018 to 96 francs per ton of CO₂ and in January 2022 to 120 francs per ton of CO₂. At the moment, legislation does not foresee to further increase the CO₂ levy.

In 2024, the CO₂ emissions from thermal fuels, corrected for weather conditions, decreased once again. Compared to 1990, the emissions decreased by 44 percent, compared to the previous year the decrease amounts to 3.8 percent. This reduction can, to a large degree, be attributed to increased energy efficiency in buildings and an increased use of renewable energy for heating. The increased efforts of the cantons contribute significantly to this. However, the majority of buildings in Switzerland (responsible for around three quarters of CO2 emissions from fuels) are still heated with fossil oil or natural gas. 

In 2024, the CO₂ emissions from motor fuels also fell compared with the previous year, by 2.1 per cent. As a result, emissions have not returned to the levels seen in 2019, i.e. before the COVID-19 pandemic. The reasons include a change in mobility behaviour (more home office and fewer business trips) and the growing share of electromobility and biogenic fuels. Overall, emissions have fallen by 7% compared with 1990 (the reference year).

The state is evaluated as medium and the development as unsatisfactory. The reduction of the CO₂ emissions from motor fuels is insufficient in view of the indicative value for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from transport (- 25% by 2030, compared to 1990 levels). The indicative value refers to all greenhouse gases. However, CO2 emissions are dominant in transport, and most fuel is consumed in the transport sector.

• Related indicators
• Energy efficiency of buildings
• Greenhouse gas emissions
• Treibhausgasemissionen nach Gasen
• Treibhausgasemissionen pro Kopf

CO₂ emissions based on CO₂ statistics make up only a portion of the greenhouse gas emissions that are reported in accordance with the CO₂ Act and the Paris Agreement. For an international comparison, please refer to the “Greenhouse gas emissions per inhabitant” indicator. 

The energy-related CO₂ emissions shown here according to the CO₂ statistics include all CO₂ emissions from motor fuels as well as the CO2 emissions from thermal fuels that are relevant for the CO₂ levy, corrected for weather conditions.
 
Energy-related CO₂ emissions based on CO₂ statistics are calculated by adding up the individual emissions from fossil motor and thermal fuels. These are calculated as follows: emission = annual activity * emission factor. The annual activity rate captures the magnitude of an activity, which in this case is the annual consumption of a thermal fuel (e.g. heating oil, gas) or a motor fuel (e.g. diesel oil, gasoline, kerosene, aviation gasoline). In this calculation, an adjustment for degree days and solar radiation is made for the thermal emissions in order to account for the influence of fluctuations in weather conditions. Source: Overall energy statistics (Swiss Federal Office of Energy).
 
The full time series is recalculated in the event of changes to the methodology, improvements to the available source data or corrections.