Swiss federal government aims to halve its greenhouse gas emissions by 2030

Switzerland’s federal government is aiming to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030 by making a series of changes to the way it operates.

It plans to reduce air travel emissions by making greater use of trains rather than planes for short to medium distance travel in Europe, and it plans to fly more staff in economy class seats on long haul flights while reducing the number of people it sends – if everyone flew economy class a large number of aircraft could be removed from the skies and the cost of economy class seats would rise, reducing demand for these cheaper seats. Business and first class seats take up more room, reducing the number of passengers per aircraft. High-price business and first class seats allow airlines to charge less for economy seats.

The federal government also plans to reduce the emissions of its vehicle fleet and aims to make 20% of its light vehicles electric by 2022.

• The problem with electric cars

In addition, it has a plan to improve the energy efficiency of its buildings and increase the number of electric vehicle charging points.

Switzerland’s federal administration and the federal department of defence, civil protection and sport (DDPS) is aiming to cut its emissions by 35% by 2030.

The DDPS together emit around 245,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent greenhouse gas annually (2018 figures). Over half of this is related to aircraft and air travel – around 103,000 tonnes is emitted by the air force and 21,000 by staff air travel. Much of the rest relates to building heating and road transport.

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Government press release (in French) â€“ Take a 5 minute French test now

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