Blistering heatwaves, droughts, violent storms, uncontrollable forest fires: the summer of 2026 starkly illustrates global warming and our unpreparedness. Whilst those who are most vulnerable and most exposed at work or at home suffer directly, it is all life on Earth, as well as our livelihoods, that are affected. Globally, disasters are occurring one after another and hitting communities with full force. This is a truly existential threat.
This new reality is only the beginning. Unless we change course, temperatures in Switzerland could reach 50°C in summer by 2050. We reject such an unliveable future, where sheltering indoors would become the only means of survival.
Avoiding the unmanageable, managing the inevitable
Curbing global warming is an absolute priority. But we must also adapt and anticipate the known impacts. We need a genuine emergency plan: to drastically reduce our greenhouse gas emissions to avert the worst, whilst adapting our local communities, our homes, our work spaces and our public services to a climate that is already changing.
A much-needed wake-up call
So far, the political response has fallen far short of what is required. Swiss emissions are not on the right track. Worse still: under pressure from, in particular, the right, the far right and the fossil fuel lobbies—personified by Federal Councillor Albert Rösti—climate action is being rolled back.
Whilst climate plans have emerged thanks to citizen mobilisation, they remain insufficient, weakened and delayed by the current political majorities.
Adaptation is also being neglected. This summer has once again highlighted glaring inequalities: depending on our income, our job, our housing or our background, we are neither equally exposed to nor equally able to adapt to the consequences of global warming.
A wake-up call is needed.
Disaster is already upon us; we have the means to massively reduce its impact and adapt to it, but only if we set in motion a genuine about-turn.
In our neighbourhoods, local authorities, our workplaces, our schools and in decision-making bodies, we must organise collectively to bring about a transformation to match the scale of the challenges we face.
DEMANDS
Let’s protect our living spaces
No more suffocating heat indoors, poor insulation or heat islands. To ensure liveable spaces all year round, we demand:
- The insulation of homes ill-suited to the climate and passive cooling measures (blinds, light colours, greenery, etc.) without rent increases or evictions.
- The introduction of building standards that respect planetary boundaries and are adapted to the new climate (no fossil-fuel heating, sustainable materials, reduced use of concrete, etc.).
- During heatwaves, free, cool spaces accessible to all (climate shelters) and free access to public swimming pools.
- Widespread public access to lakes and rivers for cooling off.
Health and safety at work for all
Hospitals, schools, nurseries, building sites, kitchens… workplaces are turning into furnaces, endangering the health of workers and those using these establishments. Employers have a responsibility to protect their staff. We demand:
- Binding measures to protect health, including the suspension of activities where necessary.
- An increase in breaks for workers in high-risk roles, a reduction in working hours and the adjustment of work schedules without loss of pay.
- A guaranteed right to wages in the event of work stoppages, reduced working hours or when caring for vulnerable people.
- The priority adaptation of hospitals, nurseries, care homes, etc., prioritising environmentally friendly solutions.
- The promotion and creation of jobs in the fields of care (nursing, support, assistance, etc.) and the energy transition, as well as the introduction of a retraining allowance.
Resilient agriculture that feeds the population
Drought, hail, floods… Swiss agriculture, already under severe economic pressure, faces an existential threat. Resilient small-scale farming is essential to guarantee healthy and sustainable food whilst protecting the climate, soil and biodiversity. We demand:
- A plan for food sovereignty guaranteeing decent and fair incomes for farmers and agricultural workers.
- A focus on growing plant-based produce for human consumption rather than for livestock or industrial use.
- The right to food that is healthy, local, sustainable and accessible to the entire population (food baskets, etc.).
- The adaptation of crops to climate challenges (an end to support for tobacco cultivation, and more soil cover and conservation, etc.) and support for resilient, diversified agricultural practices with low environmental impact (agroecology, etc.).
- A fair, democratic and secure sharing of access to water for all farms.
- The rejection of free trade agreements (Mercosur, Malaysia, etc.) which do not respect the principles of sustainability, jeopardise local agriculture and threaten the populations of the Global South.
For a transformation in transport
Transport is the leading sector responsible for domestic greenhouse gas emissions in Switzerland and the only one in which emissions are not declining. Air traffic, meanwhile, is increasing unchecked. We demand:
- Strong measures to reduce private motorised traffic.
- The development of an efficient, affordable – and ideally free at local level – public transport system.
- The large-scale creation of pedestrian and bike infrastructure for healthy transport and compact urban planning (the ‘15-minute city’).
- A dissuasive tax on the import of private combustion-engine vehicles with a view to their ban, and support for electric mobility, prioritising peripheral areas, people with reduced mobility and the transport of goods.
- A ban on private jets and a drastic reduction in air traffic.
Protecting our interdependence with the rest of the living world
In the face of extreme weather events, nature – of which we are a part – is our greatest ally. Forests, soil, waterways and green spaces cool our towns and villages, absorb excess water, store carbon and provide a habitat for biodiversity. We demand:
- Better protection of biodiversity, the restoration of waterways and wetlands, as well as the protection and adaptation of forests.
- A limit on land paving, the greening and removal of impervious surfaces from concrete-covered areas, particularly school playgrounds and car parks.
- Rainwater management and the protection of urban biodiversity through the development of ‘water sponge cities’.
- The abandonment of false solutions (maladaptation): we must take into account the nine planetary boundaries.
Stop harmful large-scale projects
Let us put a stop to all projects that increase our CO₂ emissions and make us more dependent on fossil fuels and more vulnerable to climate hazards while destroying forests, soil and agricultural land. We demand:
- An immediate halt to any expansion of motorways and airports.
- A moratorium on new large-scale, energy-intensive and destructive facilities (gravel pits, data centres, etc.).
- To uphold the ban on new nuclear power stations.
- Reduce military spending (fighter jets, etc.).
- A ban on advertising and sponsorship of and by products harmful to the environment and health.
- The exclusion from political processes of private lobbies harmful to health, the climate and biodiversity, as well as a strategy to combat climate disinformation.
Funding to tackle the climate crisis
To limit global warming and adapt to it, a fundamental shift in the economic paradigm is required, and substantial investment is essential, particularly in public services. Those primarily responsible for the climate crisis must finance these measures. We demand:
- An end to fiscal austerity policies and the scrapping of ‘debt brake’ mechanisms to provide the resources needed for the ecological and social transition,
- Climate funds at national and cantonal levels, financed by a tax on the profits of companies and banks that get income from fossil fuels, as well as a tax on very high incomes and wealth,
- The introduction of loans with differentiated interest rates that favour eco-friendly projects and penalise activities harmful to the climate and biodiversity.
A Switzerland that lives up to its responsibilities
Emissions produced directly within our borders account for only a small part of our actual climate impact.
Through massive imports, its financial centre and irresponsible multinationals, Switzerland plays a key role in the plundering of the Global South, land grabbing, violent exploitation and the destruction of ecosystems. We demand:
- A national strategy to reduce emissions linked to our imports.
- An immediate halt to all financing by Swiss actors (the financial centre, pension funds, insurance, etc.), of the expansion of fossil fuels and the destruction of ecosystems.
- An increase in the Swiss contribution to the transition and adaptation of countries in the Global South, given our historical responsibility for the expansion of fossil fuels.
- An end to tax competition, which encourages irresponsible multinationals to set up operations on our territory.
- The strengthening and acceleration of climate plans and legislation, with rigorous and transparent monitoring of their implementation.