Initiative for a Future
On 30 November 2025, the Swiss people rejected the Federal Popular Initiative ‘For a social climate policy – financed fairly through taxation (Initiative for a Future)’.
Results
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Switzerland is committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050 – a goal approved by the electorate. To support this, the federal government currently allocates around CHF 2 billion annually to climate-related measures. These funds are primarily raised through consumption-based taxes on thermal and motor fuels.
The initiative proposes increasing funding for climate policy by introducing a federal inheritance and gift tax. While such taxes have so far only been levied by cantons and communes, the proposal would add a federal tax of 50% on estates and gifts, with the first CHF 50 million exempt. Two-thirds of the revenue would go to the federal government and one-third to the cantons. According to the initiative text, the revenue from the new estate and gift tax must be used “to combat the climate crisis in a socially just manner and to restructure the economy as a whole as necessary to achieve this goal”.
