Switzerland: A national vote for climate change

?People are getting fed up with a situation where everyone?s talking about doing something about climate change but no one?s actually doing anything,? says Thomas Vellacott, director of Switzerland?s WWF and the man behind a petition for a national vote on climate change.

Under the Swiss system of direct democracy voters have a right to challenge parliamentary laws or pass constitutional amendments by collecting a minimum of 100,000 signatures to force a ballot. In just 18 months, a coalition of green organizations have collected over 150,000 signatures, enough to force a vote on increasing Switzerland?s current 20% Co2 reduction targets to a slightly more ambitious 30%. The initiative has been so popular that people have reportedly been queuing up to sign the petition.

The Swiss government had previously set a greenhouse gas reduction target for 2020 of just 20%. Vollacott recently told reporters that climate scientists warn that a 40% reduction will be necessary to reduce global warming to just 2 degrees above pre-industrial temperatures, although a 30% reduction was a realistic and achievable target. Germany has already announced that it will reduce emissions by 40%, and it has been noted that 60% reductions are feasible, but only at great cost.

The Swiss vote will be keenly watched by governments around the world as a useful barometer of real-life public opinion on global warming – this will be the first time to date that people in any nation have had the opportunity to directly mandate changes which are likely to result in higher prices for power, fuel and carbon intensive goods. Many people claim to be in favor of tackling climate change, few have passed the acid test whereby they are required to pay for it themselves.

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