Switzerland plummets in climate protection ranking

Demonstrators at a climate protest in Zurich in July. Keystone / Ennio Leanza

Switzerland has fallen 12 places to 33rd place in a climate protection ranking in the space of a year. The main reason for the fall is the “standstill” in climate policy until 2030, say environmental organisations WWF and Greenpeace.

While other countries and the entire EU area have actually increased their ambitions since 2015 with the Paris Agreement, Switzerland has remained unchanged with its weak target for 2030. This is despite the fact that it is clear that the stabilisation of global warming can only be achieved with increased emission reductions before 2030, according to the Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) report published on Wednesday.

With the current Swiss climate policy, the maximum remaining CO2 budget for compliance with the 1.5°C limit is “guaranteed to be exceeded”. Switzerland’s low ranking in this area is primarily due to the fact that the federal authorities are not prepared to implement ambitious measures, the authors said. The rejection of the judgement of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in the case of the climate seniors is emblematic of this blockade.

+ Landmark ruling: Switzerland’s climate policy violates human rights

The CCPI is a ranking of countries according to their performance in the area of climate protection. It is published annually by the NGO Germanwatch, the New Climate Institute and the Climate Action Network and includes 63 countries and the European Union, which together are responsible for over 90% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Denmark, the Netherlands and the UK occupy the top places, four to six, but the top-three podium has not yet been awarded on the grounds that none of the countries analysed are making the necessary efforts to achieve the 1.5°C target, the authors said. Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Iran bring up the rear in the CCPI 2025.

Translated from German by DeepL/ts

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