Cabinet seeks extra permits for CO2 output
The government wants to purchase additional emission certificates to comply with an international agreement on reducing the output of greenhouse gases.
The environment ministry said it was mandated to negotiate a deal with an industry foundation to contribute to the estimated SFr60 million ($71.2 million) cost of the certificates.
Switzerland is likely to miss its target of cutting its carbon dioxide emissions by four million tonnes in the 2008-2012 period, according to a forecast published last November.
But the terms of the Kyoto Protocol allow industrialised countries to buy certificates for emission cuts from other countries if efforts at a domestic level are not sufficient.
Under the scheme the polluter pays a sum and the seller is rewarded for reducing emissions.
In 2003 Switzerland committed itself to reducing the amount of CO2 by eight per cent between 2008 and 2012, compared with 1990 levels.
In compliance with the JTI standards
More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here. Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.