New Sustainable Development Strategy for Switzerland

The aim of the Sustainable Development Strategy (SDS) 2016-2019 is to ensure a coherent sustainability policy at the federal level. In addition to the Federal Council's guidelines, it now also contains a long-term vision and concrete goals for 2030. In this way, the SNE is intended to provide guidance for policymakers at all three levels of government, as well as for the business community, civil society and academia, on the direction in which Switzerland should continue to develop in important areas.

Switzerland pursues its goals in a networked manner

Sustainable development is often a cross-border task that requires coordination between states. This applies, for example, to global warming or the global impact of our consumption. With the global "2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development" and the goals adopted by the UN, the "Sustainable Development Goals", the necessary conditions have been created.

The "2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development" serves to address challenges such as the eradication of poverty or the protection of the environment globally. The Sustainable Development Strategy takes these up, placing a new focus on Switzerland's international engagement and the alignment between its domestic and foreign policies.

An action plan with a long-term target framework

The core of the SDS is the action plan. This is divided into nine thematic fields of action on the priority policy areas of sustainable development. The fields of action include, for example, the competitiveness and resilience of the Swiss economic and financial system, the conservation of natural resources, social security, social cohesion and gender equality.

The fields of action each contain a long-term vision, which is concretized by medium-term goals. The goals correspond to the Federal Council's priorities for sustainable development in Switzerland up to 2030, and the Federal Council has already taken into account parts of the Sustainable Development Goals. The measures in the action plan describe domestic policy activities that the Federal Council intends to implement between 2016 and 2019.

Close cooperation during implementation

Sustainable development policy is a long-term process that requires cooperation between all levels of government as well as partners from business, civil society and science. For this reason, the Federal Office for Spatial Development (ARE) involved these actors in the renewal process of the SNE through a stakeholder dialogue. The results of this dialogue served as one of the foundations for the present strategy. The future design and implementation of sustainable development will also be carried out in close cooperation with the cantons, municipalities and other stakeholders. To this end, for example, greater intercantonal cooperation in the area of sustainability is being sought.

(ARE)