Parliament agrees on carbon dioxide law
Parliament has passed a revised law aiming to achieve a 20 per cent reduction in CO2 emissions by 2020.
The House of Representatives on Tuesday followed the Senate, approving a proposal to put the proceeds of fines into an infrastructure fund instead of passing on the money to the general public as mooted by the cabinet.
The fines are to be paid by car importers if new vehicles emit more than 130g of CO2 per kilometre. This limit will gradually enter into force by 2015.
The latest decision wraps up a wide-ranging reform to curb carbon dioxide output notably by emission trading and insulation of buildings.
However, parliament refused to grant the government the right to introduce a CO2 tax on petrol and diesel.
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.