Future Perfect

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The Swiss commitment and priorities

for sustainable development

Daniel Ziegerer, Head of Global Affairs Section, The Federal Office for the Environment

witzerland is committed to the concept of sustainability,

which has the status of a national constitutional objective.

This commitment has translated into many endeavours,

such as a public transport network that includes two railway base

tunnels through the Alps, creating a north-south axis through

Europe and facilitating a sustainable European transport policy.

Other examples are the recent decisions to phase out nuclear energy

production within the next two decades and the Government’s

commitment to a green tax reform. Environmental awareness

paired with innovative capacity has also resulted in the cleantech

sector, which is currently developing at a faster rate in Switzerland

than any other technology sector. Switzerland has made significant

advances towards sustainable development at an institutional level

as well as in numerous political and social fields. Nevertheless, it

is far from achieving sustainability and dedicated further action

is needed at the national as well as at the international level. In

addition, Switzerland remains committed to assisting developing

countries and countries in transition in their efforts to follow a

sustainable development path.

For Switzerland, sustainable development is more than just another

policy concept. In fact, the Swiss Federal Constitution declares sustain-

able development as one of the principal national objectives. The

Constitution also calls upon the Confederation and the cantons to strive

for “a balanced relationship between nature and its ability to renew itself,

on the one hand, and the demands placed on it by the human race, on the

other.” Since 1997, the Federal Council has implemented these consti-

tutional obligations not only through mainstreaming them into relevant

policy areas, but also through formulating sustainable development strat-

egies. The Sustainable Development Strategy 2012-2015 is the fourth and

most recent of these. It underscores the Federal Council’s commitment to

sustainable development and sets out its strategic approach, focus areas

and concrete measures for the implementation of sustainable develop-

ment policy in Switzerland for the next four years.

The approach to sustainable development on which the national

strategy is based goes back to the broad definition that was

drawn up in 1987 by the World Commission on Environment

and Development for the 1992 United Nations Conference on

Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro, also known as the

‘Brundtland Definition’. According to this definition, development

is sustainable if it guarantees that the needs of present generations

can be met without compromising the ability of future generations

to meet their own needs. Two complementary aspects of sustainable

development are of key importance for Switzerland:

• The idea that there are limits to what the global ecosystem can bear

• The priority that must be given to satisfying essential needs,

particularly those of the poorest sections of society.

This definition has an ethical foundation. It expresses

the belief that power for a generation to do as it pleases

with regard to the future should be replaced by a sense

of responsibility towards the future, rooted in a just

and fair division of resources between generations

(intergenerational solidarity) and regions of the world

(intragenerational solidarity). The basis of human life

should be secured on just and fair terms for all.

Based on this understanding, the Swiss Sustainable

Development Strategy 2012-2015 identifies the follow-

ing 10 key challenges:

• Protecting the climate and managing natural hazards

• Reducing energy consumption and promoting

renewable energies

• Ensuring sustainable spatial planning

• Increasing economic productivity while decoupling

from resource and energy usage, aligning

consumption with sustainable development

• Using natural resources sustainably

• Strengthening social cohesion, encouraging

cultural development and integration, and tackling

demographic challenges at an early stage

• Improving public health

• Taking responsibility for global developmental and

environmental challenges

• Ensuring long-term financing for public budgets and

the social security system

• Applying education, research and innovation

consistently to the implementation of sustainable

development principles.

The strategy also identifies specific measures to address

each of the 10 key challenges. Some examples are

described below.

Greening of the tax system

The Swiss Government is working on reforming its tax

system in order to provide better incentives for reducing

negative impacts on the environment. No new revenues

will be generated through the tax reform, but Switzerland’s

ecological footprint will be improved by eliminating envi-

ronmentally harmful tax and subsidy incentives.

emission regulations for cars

This measure stipulates a reduction in carbon dioxide

(CO

) emissions for all new cars to approximately 130

grams per kilometre by 2015 and is entrenched in the

ustainability

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