On 13 June 2021, Swiss voters narrowly rejected, by 51.6%, the total revision of the CO2 Act. Backed by the Federal Council and a broad coalition from the SP to the FDP, the law was meant to be the pillar of Swiss climate policy for the decade.
The text combined steering taxes and measures: a gradual increase in the fuel levy, a higher tax on heating oil and gas, a tax on air tickets, and a climate fund fed by these revenues, partly redistributed to the population.
A referendum, launched by a business-oriented committee close to the oil and car sectors and joined by the SVP and the Swiss Trade Association, denounced an 'expensive, useless and unfair' law. The post-pandemic recovery and sensitivity to purchasing power weighed in.
The rejection — despite a high turnout of 59.7% — was a setback for the government's climate strategy, without however closing the file, as the sequel showed.
▲ Cantons that accepted Only five cantons: Geneva, Vaud, Neuchâtel, Basel-Stadt and Zurich. | ▼ Cantons that rejected The other 21 cantons. The strongest rejection in Schwyz (65.5%), followed by Valais (60.9%), Jura (58.2%), Fribourg (55.6%) and Ticino (55.5%). |
Actors and personalities
▲ Yes camp • Federal Council (Simonetta Sommaruga, head of DETEC) • SP, Greens, GLP in favour • The Centre and FDP officially in favour • SGB/USS and environmental organisations support • Part of the economy (some companies, insurers) | ▼ No camp • SVP main opposing party • sgv/USAM (trades) referendum committee • GastroSuisse, oil and car sectors business circles • Centre Patronal opposed • Part of rural circles mobility costs |
Arguments and verdicts
▲ Arguments FOR (Yes camp) Without this law, Switzerland will miss its climate targets « Rejecting this law means giving up the means to meet our Paris commitments. » — Yes camp / Federal Council ✓~ Partly confirmed Partly verified: the rejection delayed climate policy, but Switzerland rebuilt a framework — the Climate Protection Act (net zero 2050) accepted in 2023 and a new CO2 Act for 2025-2030. The −50% target by 2030 nonetheless remains hard to meet. Source: RTS; swissinfo.ch; Parliament. This rejection does not bury climate protection « This no is not a no to climate protection. » — Simonetta Sommaruga, on the evening of the vote ✓ Argument confirmed Confirmed: the topic returned quickly. In June 2023 the people accepted the Climate Protection Act, and in March 2024 Parliament passed a new CO2 Act, in force since 2025. Source: RTS, 13.06.2021; admin.ch; Parliament, 2024. | ▼ Arguments AGAINST (No camp) The law is too expensive for households « Higher petrol and heating-oil prices, an air-ticket tax: the bill will cost families hundreds of francs. » — Referendum committee / SVP ✓~ Partly confirmed Partly confirmed: the rejection avoided these increases, and above all the new 2025-2030 CO2 Act deliberately dropped the large tax hikes in favour of incentives and investment. The legislator effectively acknowledged the cost concern. Source: Parliament, new CO2 Act 2024; swissinfo.ch. Going it alone is pointless: Switzerland is only 0.1% of global emissions « Our country accounts for a tiny share of emissions; this costly law will have no effect on the global climate. » — No camp ✗~ Partly refuted Partly refuted: while the Swiss share is indeed minimal, the futility argument did not prevail — Switzerland refused inaction, setting itself the binding target of carbon neutrality by 2050 in 2023. Source: Climate Protection Act, 2023; FOEN. |
Factual record
1 Confirmed | 2 Partly confirmed | 1 Partly refuted | 0 Refuted |
| ✓ | Climate protection was not buried The fear of a climate-policy abandonment did not materialise: in 2023 the people accepted the Climate Protection Act targeting carbon neutrality by 2050, and a new CO2 Act came into force in 2025. Source: admin.ch; FOEN. |
| ~ | A return without the contested increases The file returned, but transformed: the 2025-2030 version relies on incentives and investment rather than the heavy taxes rejected in 2021. The cost criticism was partly heard — at the price of roughly a four-year delay. Source: Parliament, 2024; RTS. |
The rejection of the CO2 Act in 2021 is a case where the ballot 'no' did not mean abandoning the goal, but rejecting a method. Subsequent facts confirm it: Switzerland did not give up on climate protection, it changed the instrument.
The Yes camp's warnings about a delay partly came true: it took until 2023 and 2024 to rebuild a framework. But the prediction of an outright abandonment did not materialise.
On the opponents' side, the cost criticism was indirectly vindicated: the new law dropped the contested heavy tax hikes. By contrast, the argument about the futility of isolated Swiss action did not hold, since the country gave itself a binding carbon-neutrality target.
In the end, the 2021 vote looks less like a halt than a course correction: same goals, different means, shifted timetable.