Swiss group launches two initiatives to control growth of wind power

Wind turbines near Saignelegier in canton Jura, 2021. Keystone / Jean-christophe Bott

The construction of wind turbines in forests must be prevented and local appeal procedures must be guaranteed, says a Swiss environmental group. On Monday it launched two popular initiatives to limit the construction of wind turbines in Switzerland.

Over 300 wind farm projects, involving the construction of over 1,000 wind turbines, are threatening the protection of nature and popular rights in Switzerland, Elias Vogt, president of Paysage Libre Suisse, told reporters in Bern on Monday.

The federal government and parliament want to prioritise the production of renewable energy in Switzerland. Numerous projects have already been approved or decisions have passed in parliament. But these projects could pose a direct threat to Swiss forests and the country’s direct democracy system, according to Vogt. Paysage Libre Suisse, which took part in the successful referendum against the Renewable Energy Act, has therefore decided to launch two initiatives.

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The association is supported by the presidents of communes, parliamentarians, local councillors, professors, environmentalists, biologists, lawyers and heritage conservationists.

The first initiative calls for wind turbines to be installed in locations other than forests and wooded pastures. Many wind turbines are planned in forests or directly on their edge, explains Antoinette de Weck, vice-president of the association and a former Radical parliamentarian for the canton and town of Fribourg.

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Whenever a wind turbine is built, an area the size of a football pitch has to be cleared. Thousands of hectares of forest and natural areas will simply be sacrificed, says the group.

“The people must therefore be able to decide on the future of our forests, which are also part of our heritage, an island on an overcrowded Swiss plateau and often the last refuge for flora and fauna. What’s more, deforestation exacerbates global warming, even though wind turbines are supposed to support decarbonisation,” it says.

The second initiative aims to ensure that all new wind turbines are subject to a binding referendum in the affected and neighbouring municipalities. “Wind turbines have an impact on the landscape and on people’s daily lives,” says Anael Lovis, mayor of Genevez in canton Jura. Forcing this issue leads to incomprehension and anger among the public, he adds.

He noted: “Thanks to this constitutional guarantee, federal and cantonal legislation will in future have to provide for local votes on wind farm projects. At present, however, the aim is to restrict as far as possible the right to oppose the construction of wind turbines at local level.”

Under the revised law approved by the House of Representatives in December, any objections will be restricted. The time limits for appeals will be shortened and restricted to the major national organisations, the cantons and the municipalities concerned.

For an initiative to be successful, at least 100,000 valid signatures must be collected within 18 months.

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