Swiss perspectives in 10 languages

Climate article added to Aargau constitution

Field in Aargau
Watering vegetable fields in Aargau, northern Switzerland Keystone / Urs Flueeler

Voters in the Swiss canton of Aargau have approved an amendment writing a climate article into its constitution. The new article aims to strengthen the canton’s responsibility for climate protection.

Check out our selection of newsletters. Subscribe here.

The article, approved by 56.8% of voters on Sunday, says the canton and the municipalities are committed to limiting climate change and strengthening their ability to adapt to the adverse effects of climate change. In doing so, they must take into account the objectives of the federal government and the international agreements that are binding for Switzerland.

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

The climate article caused little debate in the run-up to the vote. Only the right-wing Swiss People’s Party was against it, describing the article as superfluous.

All other parties supported the article passed by parliament. Those in favour stated that a legal basis for climate protection and a binding obligation should be created.

The cantons of Basel City, Bern, Geneva, Glarus, Vaud and Zurich, among others, already have a climate article in their constitutions. The canton of Fribourg has its own climate law.

Translated from German by DeepL/ts

More
External Content
Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Almost finished… We need to confirm your email address. To complete the subscription process, please click the link in the email we just sent you.
Daily news

Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox.

Daily

The SBC Privacy Policy provides additional information on how your data is processed.

Popular Stories

Most Discussed

News

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR