Swiss voters on Sunday backed the government’s plan to provide billions of dollars in subsidies for renewable energy. They also voted by a 58.2 percent majority to ban nuclear power plants and to help bail out struggling utilities, which overturns a November majority vote [JURIST report] rejecting a referendum to phase out the nation’s nuclear power program. Switzerland has a system of direct democracy [Reuters report], which gives voters the final say in policy issues. The EU’s “Energy Strategy 2050” [EU background, text] has “a long-term goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80-95 percent, when compared to 1990 levels, by 2050.” Under the proposed law 480 million francs would be put towards funding wind, solar and hydro power. Switzerland’s energy output consists of 60 percent hydro, 30 percent nuclear and a mere 5 percent for solar and wind combined. Debates on the proposed laws focused on whether a four-fold increase in solar and wind power would deliver enough energy to replace non-renewable resources. Many were also concerned with how much customers and taxpayers would pay under the proposed changes. Critics of the plan say a family of four would pay an additional 3,200 Swiss francs (USD $3,290) annually and increase the country’s reliance on imported energy.

Climate concerns and solutions related to renewable energy resource are still a contested issue. Earlier this month US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson signed [JURIST report] the Fairbanks Declaration [text] to affirm protection of the arctic climate. Also in May the US Senate rejected [JURIST report] a measure that would rollback methane gas regulations. The Trump administration in March asked [JURIST report] the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to postpone ruling on the Obama administration’s climate change regulations. Also in March US President Donald Trump signed [JURIST report] an executive order reforming the previous administration’s energy policies. UN human rights experts called [JURIST report] on global leaders in February to take urgent action on air pollution to ensure world citizens enjoy what the UN calls “the human rights to life and health in environments free from contamination.”