Author: switzerlandtimes.ch

On 9 February 2025, Swiss voters will be asked to decide whether to accept the Environmental Responsibility Initiative. The initiative sets highly ambitious limits to emissions and the consumption of natural resources, defined as planetary boundaries, to be reached within 10 years. There is no detail on how these limits will be reached – see initiative text here. The Federal Council rejects the initiative, viewing it as a step too far that would bring new bans and restrictions for the economy and the population. Based on a study, the Federal Council said Switzerland would need to reduce its overall environmental…

Authorities in several Swiss cantons are gearing up for a sharp rise in the number of bankruptcies this year, possibly double the number in 2024, reported SRF. Some cantons are employing new staff to deal with the sharp rise, which is partly due to a change in the rules. Many companies on the edge of bankruptcy are kept alive by the forebearance of cantonal and municipal creditors. Unsurprisingly, the public sector is the largest creditor in Switzerland. These debts are mainly unpaid taxes, interest and penalties. A new law that came into force on 1 January 2025 requires insolvent companies…

On Monday, the Chinese artist Ai Weiwei was denied entry to Switzerland because he was unable to present a valid visa, reported RTS. Forced to spend Tuesday night at Zurich airport, the well-known dissident artist took to social media. On Instagram, he said “I’m sleeping on a bench with a blanket tonight and waiting to be deported at 6:50 am next morning.” The artist was not arrested, stressed a police spokesman. He was able to move freely around the airport transit area until his return to the UK. The 67-year-old posted several photos and videos. These show that he did…

Over the years, there has been much political debate on how to limit the noise from vehicles. At the beginning of 2025 new noise rules passed by parliament in 2021 came into force. According to the Federal Roads Office (FEDRO) any avoidable vehicle noise is now banned. This includes additional noise from vehicle modifications and unnecessary engine revving or exhaust back-firing. Anyone now caught making avoidable vehicle noise risks fines as high as CHF 10,000. In addition, small infractions, such as leaving the motor running unnecessarily, can result in fines of CHF 80. These existed before 1 January 2025 but…

Male chicks are not wanted by egg producers because they cannot produce eggs. Until fairly recently, they were identified at birth and shredded. On 1 January 2020, shredding live chickens was banned in Switzerland. Since then, suffocating the unwanted chicks with CO2 has been a popular alternative. This week, egg industry association Gallosuisse announced that a new process is under development, reported RTS. The new process, which is expected to become fully operational by the end of 2025, involves identifying the sex of the future bird before it hatches. The process is able to detect sex by the eleventh or…

Switzerland generates around 110,000 tons of used clothing a year, reported SRF. Most of it is unwanted. Only 1 in 100 items finds a buyer, according to Sascha Sardella, the operations manager at Tell-Tex, one of Switzerland’s largest textile collection organisations. Second hand clothes can’t compete with cheap new clothes from China, he said. Cheap fast fashion means more and more second hand clothes are either burned or end up in landfill, often in African nations. What can be done to stem this waste and the environmental damage it does? In 2026, extended producer responsibility will come into force in…

Swiss vote regularly on a wide range of proposals and government decisions. Since 1848, in addition to general elections, Swiss voters have been called to vote on 677 referenda and initiatives. 48% percent of these votes were accepted. Between 1848 and 1900 there was roughly one of these votes a year. Since 1991, there have been close to 10 a year. Broadly, outside of general elections, there are three kinds of votes in Switzerland: mandatory referenda, optional referenda and popular initiatives. A mandatory referendum is typically required when parliament wishes to modify the constitution. To be accepted these votes must…

ETH Zurich remains the best university in continental Europe, according to the World University Ranking, published by Times Higher Education. ETH Zurich was ranked eleventh worldwide in the 2024 ranking, the same position as in 2023. The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL), the next Swiss university in the ranking moved up one position from last year to 32nd. The global winner for 2024 was the University of Oxford, which has held first place for the ninth time in a row. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University followed in second and third places. Such rankings…

Relative to the price of many things, the price of milk in Switzerland is low. A litre of milk in a Swiss supermarket typically costs between CHF 1.50 and CHF 2.00. Plant milk alternatives often cost close to CHF 3.00. Of the retail price paid for milk only 70 cents makes it into the pockets of dairy farmers. This week, dairy producers in Zurich announced the creation of an association to set a higher price. The current price of 70 cents is unacceptable and puts many farmers at risk, said a representative. The group is calling for a minimum price…

In 2024, the net number of foreign nationals moving Switzerland was 83,400, 15.6% lower than in 2023, according to the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM). By the end of 2024, the total number of residents in Switzerland without Swiss passports had risen to 2.36 million, roughly 26% of Switzerland’s population of nearly 9 million. Most immigrants in 2024 came from EU and EFTA nations (71%) and most (52%) came to work. Of the 170,600 foreign nationals coming to live in Switzerland in 2024, 52% came to work, 25% came as part of a family, 10% came to study, 7% came…