IP Switzerland’s position on the federal popular initiative “ No 10 million Switzerland! (sustainability initiative) “
What the Initiative Wants
The initiative aims to state in the Federal Constitution that Switzerland’s permanent resident population must not exceed ten million people before 2050. The Confederation and cantons should take measures for sustainable population development within the scope of their competencies.
If the limit is not adhered to, the following measures must be implemented:
- Tightening of legislation, particularly in the area of asylum and family reunification
- Successive renegotiation or termination of international migration agreements.
See also the full text of the initiative.
Integral Vision of the Future
Humanity populates the earth, living a frugal life style. Thanks to global justice and sufficiency politics, there are no countries of immigration or emigration, but people, for a variety of reasons, choose freely where to live.
IP Switzerland’s Recommendation
IP Switzerland recommends not to sign the initiative.
Reason
- The initiative does not lead in the direction of either the aforementioned integral vision of the future or the vision of the IP, because it does not regard all people as citizens of the ONE world.
- Conservatives around the world have now also discovered the climate crisis for themselves. They argue: Stopping immigration is a question of environmental protection. In their supposedly ecological guise, they present themselves as critical of growth and consumption, but hold on to growth-enforcing capitalism. In doing so, they are succumbing to a contradiction.
- It is makes sense that in order to maintain the quality of life, the population of a small country like Switzerland must not be allowed to overflow. However, sustainable and global population regulation can only be achieved through a global politics of sufficiency and a distributive and regenerative post-growth economy. In our view, this initiative does not aim to achieve this.
Responsible for the Assessment
This assessment was carried out by IP Switzerland’s Competence Center “Initiatives & Referendums” in January 2024. Barbara Picard, Daniel Lévy and Remy Holenstein took part.
