Environmental movement in Switzerland


The environmental movement in Switzerland is represented by a wide range of associations.
The article also present green politics and environmental policies of Switzerland.

Organisations

Organisations exist and act on local, cantonal, federal and international scales. Environmental non-governmental organisations vary widely in political views and in the way they seek to influence environmental behaviours and policies.

Governmental

Legislation

In 1874, an article to protect forests was introduced in the Swiss Federal Constitution. In 1962, a constitutional article was introduced for the protection of nature.
In 1967, the Federal Act on the Protection of Nature and Cultural Heritage introduced notably the right of appeal of environmental organisations which gives all Swiss organisations concerned with nature protection the right to raise general objections or to file appeals against some projects. The right of environmental organisations to appeal was later also included in the Federal Act on the Protection of the Environment and the Federal Act on Non-Human Gene Technology.
In 1971, a constitutional article for the protection of the environment was approved by and the Federal Office for the Environment, Forests and Landscape was founded.
The Federal Inventory of Landscapes and Natural Monuments was introduced in 1977.
On 21 May 2017, 58 percent of Swiss voters accepted the new Energy Act establishing the energy strategy 2050 and forbidding the construction of new nuclear power plants.

Popular initiatives

Several federal popular initiative were launched to increase environmental protection. Several of them were accepted: