Swiss reject biodiversity and pension reform proposals

Voters on Sunday clearly rejected an initiative to better protect biodiversity in Switzerland. A complex proposal to reform the country’s occupational pension scheme has also been turned down. Switzerland does not need to do more to protect biodiversity and nature. This is the main conclusion of a nationwide ballot on Sunday, which saw some 63% of voters rejecting a biodiversity initiative launched by nature and environmental protection groups. Switzerland’s Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) acknowledges that biodiversity protection in the country is insufficient, with half of all natural environments and a third of natural spaces threatened. Read more: Biodiversity loss in Switzerland in six graphs But the biodiversity initiative was opposed by a broad alliance – the main right-wing and centre-right parties, as well as farming and business groups – which considered it “too extreme and ineffective”. They argued that current legislation is sufficient to promote biodiversity.