The CO2 tax in Switzerland will automatically increase from CHF96/tCO2 (€89/tCO2) to CHF120/tCO2 (€111/tCO2, +25%) on 1 January 2022. Although, Switzerland reduced its CO2 emissions from fuel combustion in 2020 by 31% compared to 1990, according to statistics from the Federal Office for the Environment, the country planned to cut its CO2 emissions from fuel combustion in 2020 by 33% compared to 1990 as stated in the current CO2 ordinance. Consequently, an automatic increase of the CO2 tax was triggered.
The CO2 tax has been levied since 2008 on fossil fuels, including fuel oil and natural gas. Its level is automatically raised if the intermediate targets set in the CO2 law are not met. Two thirds of revenues from the tax are redistributed to households and businesses.
In June 2021, Swiss voters rejected the new CO2 law in a nationwide referendum. The text proposed to halve CO2 emissions by 2030 compared to 1990 levels, and introduced a series of financial incentives, such as a tax on airline tickets, an increase in the tax on fossil fuels and a rise in the price of gasoline. The proceeds from the taxes would have been partly allocated to a climate fund to be created and partly redistributed to the population and businesses.