Paris climate agreement applies to Switzerland as of 5. 11. 2017
Switzerland officially becomes a partner member of the Paris Climate Agreement. With the handover of the instrument of ratification in New York on October 6, 2017, Switzerland's commitment can now enter into force one month later on November 5, 2017. Among other things, it provides for limiting global warming to well below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels.
Switzerland had been heavily involved in the negotiations on the climate convention. Ambassador Jürg Lauber, the head of Switzerland's mission to the UN in New York, handed over Switzerland's instrument of ratification of the Paris Climate Agreement to the UN Secretary-General. The UN Secretary-General is the depositary of the agreement, which was adopted by the 195 member states of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Paris on December 12, 2015.
Switzerland will thus participate as a member in the Conference of the Parties to the Paris Agreement, which will be held as part of the next climate conference. This will take place in Bonn (Germany) from November 6 to 17, 2017.
New era of international climate policy?
The Paris Climate Agreement ushers in a new era of international policy against global warming. It promotes a gradual reduction of fossil energies, with the aim of achieving a balance between emissions and the removal of greenhouse gases by sinks in the second half of the century.
To keep global warming well below 2 degrees or even limit it to 1.5 degrees, the Paris Agreement commits all countries to reducing their greenhouse gas emissions. Public and private financial flows must be directed toward low greenhouse gas development that is resilient to climate change.
Halving greenhouse gas emissions by 2030
With the ratification of the Convention, the target announced by Switzerland to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent by 2030 compared to 1990 will become binding. This target was approved by Parliament in June 2017 at the same time as the ratification was approved. According to the Paris Agreement, this reduction target must be achieved primarily by reducing domestic emissions.
However, thanks to a market mechanism whose rules must be approved by the international community by 2018, it also allows emission reductions abroad. The share of domestic emission reductions and that of reductions in third countries will be defined in the CO2 Act. In the draft revision of the CO2 Act, which was sent out for consultation in 2016, the Federal Council proposed that no more than 20 percent of greenhouse gas emissions reductions from 1990 levels may be made abroad and be taken into account in meeting Switzerland's 2030 target. The dispatch on the revision of the CO2 Act should be referred to parliament by the end of 2017.(Source: FDFA)
