BERLIN: A majority of Swiss citizens on Sunday voted in favour of a Bill aimed at introducing new climate measures to sharply curb the rich Alpine nation’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Final results released by the public broadcaster, SRF, showed that 59.1 per cent of the voters were in favour of the Bill, while 40.9 per cent voted against it.
The referendum was sparked by a campaign by scientists and environmentalists to save Switzerland’s glaciers, which are melting at an alarming rate.
Campaigners initially proposed even more ambitious measures but later backed a government plan that requires Switzerland to achieve “net zero” emissions by 2050. It also sets aside more than USD 3.357 billion to help wean companies and homeowners off fossil fuels.
The nationalist Swiss People’s Party had claimed that the proposed measures would cause electricity prices to rise.