Everything we own, produce and consume impacts on the environment. Prices do not generally reflect the full cost involved in the consumption of resources and the associated destabilisation of ecosystems and climate. Markets cannot react, or not well enough, to the overexploitation of resources. Given this market failure, the government must take responsibility to intervene.
The 2020 report “Massnahmen des Bundes für eine ressourcenschonende, zukunftsfähige Schweiz (Grüne Wirtschaft)” [Federal measures for a resource-conserving, future-proof Switzerland (Green Economy)] takes stock of Switzerland’s use of resources nationally and internationally and implementation of the measures from 2016 to 2019. The measures support the commitment made autonomously by the private sector, science and society to conserve natural resources. Resource conservation touches all policy areas. These measures are thus to be understood as supplementary to other policies such as climate and energy policy and the federal council’s position paper and action plan “zur Verantwortung der Unternehmen fűr Gesellschaft und Umwelt” (Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR).
The focus for the future will increasingly be on improving resource efficiency and promoting the circular economy. The Federal Council has instructed the Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications (DETEC), with the involvement of the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research (EAER) and the Federal Department of Finance (FDF), to submit proposals for a package of measures. Because of the close connection with the parliamentary initiative 'Strengthening the Swiss circular economy', the proposals are to be coordinated with the parliamentary debate and then presented – probably in 2024. Furthermore, the interaction with other relevant national and international developments must be taken into account, such as the developments at EU level ('Green Deal') and parliamentary requests in Switzerland.
Further information
Last modification 19.06.2020
