Switzerland raises carbon tax by two thirds

Switzerland was one of the numerous countries that missed its Kyoto target for the end of 2012. But now, the country has decided to implement a steep carbon tax in 2014 to make up for lost ground.

Here's another greatly underreported news item from Europe: Effective January 1, 2014, the Swiss will increase their carbon tax from 36 francs to 60 francs per ton of CO2, equivalent to 36 and 61 US dollars. As the government announced at the beginning of July (press release in German), the revenue will be used for building renovations.

The Swiss had a reduction target of 8 percent below the level of 1990 at the end of 2012, a target it missed by a few percentage points. Switzerland nonetheless performed admirably in comparison to most other industrialized countries, almost all of which failed to meet their relatively unambitious targets. Indeed, only Germany, Austria and the UK had more ambitious targets of 21, 13 and 12.5 percent reductions.

In contrast, Canada withdrew from the Kyoto Protocol altogether when it realized it would not meet its targets. Switzerland's response is thus relatively admirable. As soon as the final figures for 2012 were published, the government reacted.

Nonetheless, the final figures are still not in because the government says that carbon offsets abroad and carbon sinks have yet to be calculated into the equation. The final assessment of Switzerland's Kyoto target attainment will thus not be possible until 2014. (Craig Morris)