Swiss greenhouse gas emissions rose slightly in 2021

Switzerland has had to revise down some of its more ambitious climate change mitigation goals. © Keystone / Gaetan Bally

Greenhouse gas emissions in Switzerland amounted to 45.2 million tonnes of CO2 equivalents in 2021, up 1.3 million on 2020 but 18.2% lower than in 1990, according to the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) greenhouse gas inventory.

The emissions increase was particularly from buildings, says a government press releaseExternal link on Tuesday. This was due to a colder winter when more heating was used. Emissions from transport also increased slightly, while those from industry and agriculture remained largely unchanged.

Switzerland is to submit this greenhouse gas inventory for the years 1990-2021 to the UN Climate Change Secretariat on April 13 in accord with the Paris AgreementExternal link on climate change. The inventory provides a “comprehensive picture of Switzerland’s greenhouse gas emissions” as covered by that agreement, says the press release.

Emissions from Swiss buildings amounted to 11.7 million tonnes of CO2 equivalents (CO2-eq) in 2021, which was 30% less than in 1990. However, it was 1.3 million tonnes more than in 2020, because the cold winter meant more fuels were used for heating. The strong influence of winter temperatures shows that buildings continue to be heated to a significant extent with oil and gas, according to the press release. Emissions from buildings are nevertheless decreasing in the medium term, it notes, due to improved energy efficiency and the increasing replacement of oil and gas heating systems with heat pumps and renewable energies.

Emissions from the industrial sector (10.7 million tonnes of CO2-eq in 2021) were 21% below 1990 levels, while those of the transport sector (13.9 million tonnes of CO2-eq) were 7% lower than in 1990.

Emissions from agriculture amounted to 6.5 million tonnes of CO2-eq, emissions of synthetic greenhouse gases such as refrigerants amounted to 1.4 million tonnes of CO2-eq and emissions from waste management amounted to 1.1 million tonnes of CO2-eq. Taken together, these other emissions were 11% less than in 1990.

The Paris Agreement, signed by Switzerland in 2016, provides an international framework for measures to limit global warming. However, Switzerland has since had to backtrack on some of the more ambitious goals it had set on climate change mitigation.