This weekend, voters spoke loud and clear: they said “no” to the Environmental Responsibility Initiative. The proposal aimed to set ambitious goals for reducing emissions and limiting the use of natural resources, trying to meet specific planetary boundaries in just ten years.
Before the vote, many polls showed that people were worried about the economic impact. They feared that the costs of reaching such strict targets within a decade would be too high. Concerns about job security and the competitiveness of Swiss businesses were front and center in these discussions.
On February 9, 2025, a significant 69.84% of the voters rejected the initiative. While no canton achieved a majority in favor, some municipalities, like Vevey, Lausanne, Neuchâtel, and Biel/Bienne, did support it.
The closest vote was in Basel-City, where 54.66% opposed the initiative. Conversely, in the canton of Schwytz, 84.59% rejected it. Other cantons had varied results—Geneva at 58.29%, Vaud at 61.66%, Bern at 68.73%, and Zurich at 67.32%. You can see the detailed results for all cantons here.
This initiative was pushed by the youth wing of the Green Party. Some party members expressed satisfaction with the outcome. They feel that even though the initiative did not pass, it succeeded in getting important environmental topics into public discussions.
For those interested, you can check out more details about the vote data here (in French).
