Switzerland’s biggest political party claims that a recent referendum indicates voters don’t want radical climate targets.
Just hours after he took office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to withdraw the US from the Paris Agreement.
The process will take a year to complete but the decision to leave has emboldened other political leaders to put forward the possibility of an exit.
Following a vote which overwhelmingly rejected an environmental responsibility initiative, Switzerland’s biggest political party has called for the country to follow the US.
Dubbing the accords a collection of “utopian climate targets” the Swiss People’s Party wants the country to exit the Paris Agreement. But how realistic is this demand and what would it mean for Switzerland’s future climate obligations?
Swiss People’s Party calls for Paris Agreement exit
On 9 February, a referendum saw Swiss voters reject an “environmental responsibility initiative” – more than 60 per cent voted no.
The right-wing Swiss People’s Party celebrated the result, claiming that the initiative wanted to “catapult Switzerland back into the Stone Age”. In a press release, they said restrictions on housing, heating, food and clothing would have all been on the agenda.
“Driving would have been made impossible. Prices would have skyrocketed, jobs and training would have been destroyed. Poverty would have become the norm,” it adds.
The Swiss People’s Party also used the statement to demand that Switzerland withdraw from the Paris Agreement. “Utopian climate targets only lead to new bans and billions of francs in additional costs for the Swiss population,” they said.
In an interview with Swiss public television RTS, party leader Marcel Dettling claimed that the government “ratified this agreement without asking parliament or the Swiss people.”
“The government can independently decide to withdraw from this agreement,” he added.
