Climate law fails at the ballot box in Valais
Published: Sunday, Nov 24th 2024, 14:40
Retour au fil d'actualité
The cantonal climate law, which aimed to make Valais climate-neutral by 2040, has failed. After counting 119 out of 122 municipalities, the people of Valais said no to the bill on Sunday with 51.1%.
The result is a success for the SVP and the Upper Valais Center. Together with the Upper Valais Homeowners' Association, they launched a referendum. The Grand Council adopted the new climate law in December 2023 with a clear majority of 93 votes to 30.
The SVP described the "law as unnecessary and the timetable for CO2 neutrality as unrealistic". It also took the view that the cantonal law would neither prevent the melting of glaciers nor floods or mudslides.
With the cantonal climate law, Valais wanted to set a faster pace than most cantons and the federal government, which is aiming for CO2 neutrality by 2050.
The failed law also stipulated that the canton must ensure that direct greenhouse gas emissions are reduced by 50 percent by 2030 compared to 1990 levels. The text of the law was intended to implement a whole series of measures via the cantonal climate plan.
©Keystone/SDA
French 
English 
German 
Spanish 
Arabic