All official European Union website addresses are in the europa.eu domain.
See all EU institutions and bodies
An official website of the European Union | How do you know?
Environmental information systems
The Switzerland country profile provides a concise overview of key trends across three dimensions: environment and climate; socio-economic change; and system change (energy, mobility and food) in the country. It highlights the main developments and challenges in these areas, including measures to support progress towards sustainability in Switzerland. An assessment for each of the three dimensions was prepared by national experts from the European Environment Information and Observation Network (Eionet) in Switzerland, based on 20 established indicators from the EEA or Eurostat.
Switzerland’s environmental policy has yielded results in many areas. Notable forms of progress include improved air quality, increased forest biodiversity and better management of natural resources.
Between 2000 and 2022, Switzerland reduced its per capita environmental impact by 33 %. However, this reduction is insufficient – the country’s environmental burden still exceeds the thresholds set out on the basis of planetary boundaries. Key issues include climate change, biodiversity loss and the over-exploitation of natural resources. Two thirds of the environmental damage caused by Switzerland’s final demand occurs outside its own territory.
To address these challenges, Switzerland is applying a set of measures at various levels, utilising technical potentials in its efforts to decarbonise the economy. National policy instruments like the Carbon Dioxide (CO₂) Act, the Climate and Innovation Act, the revised Environmental Protection Act and the Cycle Routes Act provide a sound legal framework to support this transformation.
In addition to legislation, programmes that support systemic change in production and consumption systems (e.g. food, mobility and housing systems) are essential. Initiatives like the action plan against food waste and the guidelines for resource-efficient and healthy diets (Ernährungsempfehlungen) contribute to this shift. Furthermore, good-practice projects that help to foster a sharing economy and new models for work and sustainable leisure complement civil-society efforts.
Key trends and assessments
Loading
Summary assessment
Switzerland’s environmental policy has yielded results in many areas, such as , but much remains to be done. The most pressing problems are climate change, biodiversity loss and the over-exploitation of natural resources.
Switzerland is particularly affected by climate change, with current average temperatures 2°C higher than pre-industrial levels. Switzerland intends to halve its emissions by 2030, and the adopted by Swiss voters in 2023 enshrines the goal of achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
Various measures to promote biodiversity have produced occasional gains, with primarily local impacts. However, one third of all species and half of all habitat types in . There is need for action to preserve the services that biodiversity offers society and the economy.
The high consumption of materials, including raw materials, has a negative impact on the climate, ecosystems and biodiversity, as well as on the health and quality of life of the population. In 2020, Switzerland produced almost 90 Mt of waste, with municipal solid waste accounting for approximately 7% of this total. This places Switzerland among the . However, between 2000 and 2022, the material efficiency of the . Over the same period, the . Taking into account population growth, the .
Protecting the climate, preserving biodiversity and strengthening the circular economy are among the priority objectives of environmental policy. Change in production and consumption patterns, especially in regard to mobility, housing and nutrition – which together represent up to two thirds of Switzerland’s total environmental impact – .
Over the past two decades, Switzerland has made progress in many areas of the environment. The per capita environmental footprint (i.e. all environmental impacts domestically and abroad that result from consumption in Switzerland) . Due to the dynamics of imports and exports, the share of Switzerland’s environmental impact occurring abroad has increased since 2000 and .
Overall, Switzerland’s environmental footprint clearly exceeds the thresholds set out on the basis of planetary boundaries – that is, the limits that must not be exceeded if the environment is to remain intact and . For example, Switzerland’s greenhouse gas footprint exceeds the . Findings from the Swiss Environmental Panel reveal that, while environmental awareness in Switzerland remains high, this awareness has not led to a lower carbon footprint. Income emerges as the strongest factor influencing the Swiss carbon footprint, surpassing .
Economic players based in Switzerland influence the environmental impact along the entire supply chain both domestically and abroad, and the extent to which they apply effective standards and resource-efficient business concepts, technologies and circular . Material efficiency has improved, as the Swiss economy has . With secondary raw materials making up 14 % of total material consumption, the potential for a circular economy remains strong, especially in the areas of building materials and feed and foodstuffs [6]. Great potential benefit for the economy is to be found in digitalisation and technological change, provided it consistently focuses on the conservation of resources and ecosystems, climate change mitigation and .
Numerous social innovations have emerged in recent years, such as the sharing economy for , sustainable nutrition models (see https://www.slowfood.com/, https://ernaehrungsforum-zueri.ch/), new working models with working-from-home arrangements or co-working spaces (see https://villageoffice.ch/) and new sustainable leisure and mobility initiatives (see , ). While these good-practice examples provide insights into innovations that have already been realised and that will boost sustainability, a shift in production and consumption patterns is required to achieve a sustainable future.
Loading
The food system
Switzerland’s food and nutrition system is characterised by its agricultural policy and the associated support for the agricultural sector, consisting of border protection and direct payments and other subsidies. In accordance with the Federal Act on Agriculture, instruments include, for example, food security payments and biodiversity grants for the creation and maintenance of biodiversity reserves. However, certain subsidies can be harmful to the environment, encouraging intensive farming and and . In 2024, the Federal Council decided on some targeted optimisations of .
In 2020, the Federal Council adopted the national soil strategy, along with a package of measures designed to sustainably protect soil as a resource. These include the crop rotation area sectoral plan, intended to improve the protection of Switzerland’s highest-yielding agricultural soils. In addition, the Federal Council adopted the action plan on , and, as a follow-up, the Swiss Parliament adopted the Federal Act on the Reduction of Risks Relating to the .
Increasing the prevalence of plant-based and seasonal foods in food retail and among food service providers is an important measure on the consumption side of the food system, as is harnessing synergies between . In Switzerland, average meat consumption has declined in recent years, from .
The reduction of food waste enables a major reduction in environmental impact and costs. Halving food waste would reduce greenhouse gases and the environmental impact of nutrition by 10–15%. The 2022 national action plan on food waste aims to halve food waste by 2030 through cross-sectoral voluntary targets and consistent .
The food consumed in Switzerland is manufactured in increasingly globally oriented production chains, where imports of foodstuffs, feed and agricultural supplies play an important role. Two thirds of the environmental impacts caused by Switzerland’s agricultural production, industrial food processing and packaging, and food distribution, . Examples of measures to counteract this are extended producer responsibility and the application of environmental and social standards in production countries.
Innovative projects, such as those promoting agroforestry and civil-society initiatives like food forums, drive a transformative shift within the food system. Meanwhile, the climate strategy for agriculture and food for 2050 adopted by the government agencies aims to contribute to a more sustainable food system and improved overall food security. Its goals include reaching a level of self-sufficiency of at least 50%, ensuring that the population has a healthy and balanced diet and reducing greenhouse gas emissions . Also relevant are the and the , both issued by the Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office.
The energy system
To achieve the net-zero emissions target by 2050, .
The energy strategy for 2050 aims to increase energy efficiency and promote the . This usually gives rise to a reduction in the associated environmental pollution. However, conflicts could also arise with the objective of nature conservation. The wind energy concept, which was revised in 2020, provides the cantons and project developers with a valuable tool for demarcating those areas and sites that will allow for the sustainable production of electricity in a way that best matches the needs of the population and nature, without .
In 2024, the Federal Council adopted the Federal Act on a Secure Electricity Supply from . With this bill, it seeks to prioritise the expansion of renewable energy sources within Switzerland’s territory, thereby reducing CO2 emissions. To this end, the Federal Council has decided to strengthen support for renewable energy initiatives.
In 2021, a hydropower round table took place to demonstrate potential ways of expanding hydropower as a contribution to the security of supply while achieving the lowest possible carbon emissions and maintaining .
In 2024, the Swiss population confirmed in a referendum that more domestic electricity should be produced from renewable energy sources such as . The transport sector in Switzerland emits large quantities . A key factor in achieving this is electromobility, which includes battery-powered vehicles and fuel cell vehicles. The federal government’s target of ensuring that 15 % of new registrations were for fully electric cars or plug-in hybrids by 2022 was . For 2025, the electromobility roadmap aims to achieve a rate of .
Currently, the annual consumption of fuel and electricity causes more than half of the total environmental impact and just under two thirds of the greenhouse gas emissions of . This is mainly because the majority of occupied buildings use fossil fuels for heating. In addition, Switzerland’s many pre-1980 buildings no longer meet the applicable energy . If all these buildings were renovated to meet the Minergie standard in line with their building category, energy consumption per capita could be reduced by over 30% compared with today. Furthermore, an additional 30% of current CO2 emissions could be cut by replacing fossil fuels with renewable heating systems.
According to Energy Strategy 2050 – Monitoring report 2024, final energy consumption per capita decreased by 28 % between 2000 and 2023. A further decrease of .
The mobility system
Every resident of Switzerland travels an average distance of 15 000 km per year in Switzerland and abroad, of which 2 400 km is by plane. 70 % of passenger transport activity (land transport only) is accounted for . This leaves significant opportunities to make transport more environmentally sustainable through the promotion of walking and cycling, shared and multimodal mobility, the improved coordination of space and transport, and eco-friendly mobility technologies based on renewable energy. The in force since 2023, ensures better and safer cycle paths by obliging the cantons to plan and implement cycle path networks and mandating the federal government to develop cycle paths along its roads. Measures implemented under the act are monitored by the .
Environmental impacts are primarily to be reduced directly at their source. In terms of road traffic noise, for example, this can be achieved through low-noise road surfaces, low-noise tyres and speed limit reductions. Meanwhile, measures and regulations on exhaust emissions and fuel quality reduce the emission of pollutants. Such regulations have been in place in Switzerland since the 1980s and have resulted in a . However, further action is still needed, for example in terms of nitrogen oxides, particulate matter and soot, and .
For 2025, the federal government, cantons and communes, together with industry and sector associations, have decided to raise the target to make plug-in vehicles account for . The expansion of electromobility in towns (e.g. in public transport and local urban traffic) also benefits local residents due to better air quality and less noise pollution at low speeds.
However, it is not only road transport that emits large amounts of greenhouse gases; so does aviation. Long-haul flights of over 1 500 km account for around 80% of aviation emissions. Within mainland Europe, journeys should be made by train, where possible, . With shares of 27% and 25%, respectively, leisure and tourism traffic taken together account for more than .
The enhanced coordination of spatial and transport planning also promises to have a positive impact on the environment and health. For example, journeys and distances covered could be reduced through compact settlement centres in which all . The revised Spatial Planning Act lays the foundations for this .
The passenger capacity utilisation of individual vehicles is generally very low: for example, in commuter traffic, the average occupancy rate of passenger cars is . Public transport is only fully occupied at peak times. The promotion of carpooling can help improve this situation with regard to road traffic. If passengers share a vehicle, they take up less space on the road. To incentivise carpooling, a consultation procedure is under way .
References