Council of States and National Council reject environmental responsibility initiative
Published: Monday, Sep 9th 2024, 19:10
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The Swiss parliament has rejected the environmental responsibility initiative of the Alliance for Environmental Responsibility. Following the National Council, the Council of States has also decided to recommend that the people and cantons vote no to the petition for a referendum submitted in February 2023.
On Monday, the small chamber voted 34 to 9 with one abstention to support the position of the National Council. In June, the National Council decided by 129 votes to 60 with 2 abstentions to recommend that the people vote no to the environmental responsibility initiative.
Proposals from two minorities in the Council of States' preliminary consultation committee failed. One minority proposed recommending that the people vote yes to the initiative. A second minority wanted to submit a direct counter-proposal to the people.
With its initiative, the Alliance for Environmental Responsibility is striving for an overall Swiss economy that uses only enough resources to preserve the natural foundations of life. The Federal Constitution is to be amended accordingly.
The Confederation and cantons are to ensure that the environmental impact caused by consumption in Switzerland "no longer exceeds the planetary boundaries measured in relation to Switzerland's population" no later than ten years after the adoption of the new constitutional article.
The popular initiative was launched at the time by the Young Greens. Around 105,000 people signed the popular initiative According to Council of States President Eva Herzog, the Council of States' decision still has to be put to the final vote in the fall session. The 9 votes in favor of the environmental responsibility initiative came from SP members and the Greens.
Only four requests to speak
In the Council of States, only four people spoke on the initiative on Monday. On behalf of the majority of the Council of States' preliminary committee, Thierry Burkart (FDP/AG) said that, in the view of this majority, the proposal went far too far. In particular, the ten-year implementation period would require "rigorous regulations".
The Swiss market would suddenly be subject to stricter production requirements than the foreign market, for example for clothing. The majority of the Commission relies on the fact that the federal government and parliament have already initiated numerous legislative and strategic projects in the environmental sector, such as the circular economy.
Environment Minister Albert Rösti also said this, adding that the initiative disregards one aspect of the concept of sustainability. A project is only sustainable if it is also economically sustainable and therefore takes people's needs into account.
Reforms could not take place without human participation and in this case the population would have to expect higher prices.
Céline Vara, a Green member of the Neuchâtel Council of States, countered that Switzerland could continue with a short-term focus or listen to young people, whose lives and future are at stake. Six out of nine planetary boundaries have already been exceeded.
Matthias Zopfi (Greens/GL) said that the initiative called for something self-evident: not to need more than you have. This is the principle of the debt brake enshrined in the Federal Constitution. In contrast to its finances, however, Switzerland does not have environmental change under control.
Counter-proposal clearly rejected
The minority motion to oppose the popular initiative with a direct counter-proposal came from a group led by Neuchâtel Councillor of States Vara. This group also wanted to align the economy with respect for natural resources.
However, this group did not want a transitional period. Vara said that anyone for whom the initiative with the ten-year transition period went too far could agree to this counter-proposal. However, the Council of States rejected the proposal by 33 votes to 11 with no abstentions.
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