Swiss Review 4/2021

Swiss Review / August 2021 / No.4 25 to protect the world’s natural re- sources. However, a lot of precious timewill be lost before plebiscites like this are put to the people. Switzerland has done relatively well on climate protection until now, com- pared to other countries. In the an- nual Climate Change Performance In- dex, it moved up two places to 14th position at the end of 2020. Defeat for the CO2 Act has nowseriously dented Swiss ambitions in the fight against climate change. https://gletscher-initiative.ch Overview of all the other poll results on 13 June: Double no to the “clean drinking water” and “pesticide” initiatives The use of pesticides in agriculture will not be banned. The electorate rejected both the “clean drinking water initiative” and the “pesticide initiative”, with around 61 per cent voting no in both cases. Opposition was particularly strong in rural areas. The majority of voters from the “Fifth Switzerland” approved both initiatives. Yes to the Anti-Terror Act The police now have greater powers to act pre-emptively against people who pose a terrorist or violent-ex- tremist threat. Around 57 per cent of voters gave their backing to the Federal Act on Police Counterterror- ismMeasures. Yes to the Covid-19 Act Voters support the federal govern- ment’s stance on the coronavirus, with 60 per cent having approved the Covid-19 Act at the polls. In particular, the legislation – in force until the end of the year – regulates measures to support companies and self-em- ployed individuals affected by the pandemic. An emphatic yes from the “Fifth Switzerland” Unlike the domestic electorate, the Swiss Abroad were clearly in favour of the CO2 Act. In ten out of the 12 cantons that actually record votes from the “Fifth Switzerland” separately, over 70 per cent of Swiss Abroad voted for the CO2 Act (see our table). In the canton of Uri, where the proposal flopped with a mere 35,0 per cent support, a record 77,5 per cent of voters from the “Fifth Switzerland” said yes to the new legislation. To coincide with the dispatch of voting papers for the 13 June vote, the federal government con- ducted a survey among around 1,600 Swiss Abroad in Australia, Brazil and Thailand. To test alterna- tive methods of dispatch, half of respondents received voting papers via their local embassy, while the other half received their documents the conventional way by post. The results of the trial and the findings of the survey were still outstanding at the time of going to press. (TP) 44,0% 50% 35,1% 70,1% 66,6% 74,0% 44,4% 73,3% 61,4% 70,6% 48,0% 75,4% 42,9% 64,2% 40,5% 67,4% 35,0% 77,5% 53,2% 74,8% 39,1% 48,4% 74,8% 55,4% 74,3% 70,1% 65,5 % 21,7 % 58,1 % 27,0 % 62,2 % 30,3 % 50,8 % 28,9 % 65,2 % 28,5 % 59,6 % 29,3 % 61,4 % 27,5 % 63,5 % 33,5 % 57.5 % 29,5 % 59,4 % 27,5 % 59,5 % 26,3 % 59,7 % 59,0 % 24,2 % Aargau Appenzell Innerrhoden Basel Stadt Fribourg Geneva Lucerne St. Gallen Thurgau Uri Vaud Valais Zurich Switzerland overall Proportion of Yes votes overall Proportion of Yes votes among the “Fifth Switzerland” Voter turnout 