Votes on environmental protection: voting pattern remains the same
According to our projections, the Swiss electorate will reject the environmental responsibility initiative on 9 February 2025 by around 70 percent of votes. While initiatives on environmental issues in the broadest sense often face resistance, it turns out that the issue of environmental protection is still sufficiently divisive to create majorities.
In recent years, initiatives on environmental issues have had little success: the biodiversity initiative in September 2024 was rejected with 63 percent voting no. Similarly, the drinking water and pesticide initiatives in June 2021 did not find a majority. This is in line with the usual pattern for initiatives. As SRG trend analyses had already shown, support for the environmental responsibility initiative clearly declined over time. According to the projection, only around 30 per cent of voters are still in favour.
Despite the rejection of the environmental responsibility initiative, the issue of “protecting the environment” was able to create a majority: The expansion of the motorway network was rejected in November 2024 with around 53 percent voting no. According to the VOX analysis on the expansion of the motorway network, the main reason for the rejection was the desire to protect the environment and to consider the expansion as counterproductive. This shows that the topic of ‘environmental protection’ is very much on the minds of the voting population and can create majorities.
However, VOX analyses have repeatedly shown that the Swiss electorate is sceptical about proposals that call for far-reaching changes in the economy and society – especially if the consequences are perceived as drastic or if economic freedom is affected. The Environmental Responsibility Initiative called for a comprehensive transformation of the economy within ten years in order to comply with planetary boundaries. This demand was perceived by many as too radical and potentially harmful for Switzerland as a business location.
An interesting contrast to this is the adoption of the Climate and Innovation Act in June 2023 with 59 percent of the vote in favour. This law focuses on financial incentives and funding programmes to achieve the goal of climate neutrality by 2050, rather than restrictive bans. This suggests that the Swiss electorate is more willing to support environmental policy proposals that focus on incentives and voluntary measures rather than on mandatory behavioural changes.
Accordingly, the pattern remains: an initiative that aims to change behaviour in order to protect the environment will not find majority support. By contrast, a proposal will receive support if it offers technical solutions or financial incentives to achieve ecological goals or aims to stop the expansion of environmentally harmful infrastructures.
