Strategy and climate policy targets

Switzerland has made international commitments to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, and is thus helping to limit global warming. What strategy does Switzerland want to use to achieve its climate targets? Where does Switzerland stand today?

Switzerland ratified the UN Climate Convention in 1993 and thus committed to contribute to the stabilisation of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous interference with the climate system.

The Paris Agreement defines Switzerland's actual and future climate protection strategy. It has three objectives:

To limit global warming to a level well below 2°C, ideally 1.5°C. To achieve this, greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced to net zero;
To increase adaptability. Here, climate change management strategies must be developed;
To make finance flows climate-compatible, so that investments are made in line with the objectives of reducing emissions and increasing adaptability.

With the ratification of the Paris Agreement in October 2017, Switzerland has committed itself to achieving these three objectives. The CO2 Act provides the national legal basis for implementing international obligations. It defines effective instruments for reducing environmentally harmful greenhouse gas emissions and binds the Confederation to coordinate measures to adapt to climate change. The People's Yes to the Climate and Innovation Act of June 18th 2023 enshrined in law, among other things, the objective of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions target by 2050.