Energy Strategy 2050: Believing in it together would already ensure half of its success

The summer of 2025 proved scorching in Switzerland, not only meteorologically, but also on the ground in the energy transition and more specifically concerning the future of wind power.

On the opponents' side, two federal initiatives, backed by anti-wind associations and each having gathered more than 120,000 signatures, were submitted to the Federal Chancellery. The first seeks to prohibit the construction of wind turbines in forests, densely wooded pastures, or within 150 meters of dwellings. The second requires that any project be approved by the populations of the host municipalities as well as by those of the neighboring municipalities affected.

Opponents of this source of electricity, nonetheless considered indispensable for our country, therefore clearly do not back down — and will probably never do so — faithful to the BANANA principle ("Build Almost Nothing Anywhere Near Anything"), a reinforced version of the well-known NIMBY ("Not In My Backyard").

For their part, supporters of this renewable energy reaffirmed, at the end of August in Bern during their annual congress, their desire to move forward. They notably reminded that a scenario including wind power would by far be the most pertinent in terms of the energy mix and also the least costly, compared to an "all-solar" scenario. According to their estimates, 750 wind turbines could produce 7.5 TWh of electricity, including 5 TWh so precious in winter (for comparison, Austria already has 1,500).

As the actors prepare for new confrontations, with positions that seem hardly reconcilable, the sovereign will therefore once again be called upon to pronounce on the modalities of deploying wind turbines in Switzerland on the occasion of these two federal initiatives.

Since 2018 and the people's vote in favor of the Energy Strategy 2050, I have repeatedly harbored the hope of seeing our country unite behind an exemplary energy and climate policy, capable of making Switzerland a model in the eyes of the world. In 2023, for example, with the massive approval of the Innovation and Climate Act, and then in 2024 with the broad support for the Electricity Act.

As Switzerland is experiencing climate warming twice as fast as the global average, due to its continental and alpine location, there is no longer time to hesitate.

Alas, three times alas: we bicker, we dawdle along the way, we take detours, we procrastinate, and we seek the panacea that would spare us the effort and work. Hypothetical revival of nuclear power, dismantling by DETEC of the Buildings programme, CO₂ law emptied of its substance, endless administrative complexities, a project to speed up procedures for renewable energies progressing at the pace of a snail in the Chambers, oppositions and appeals without end paralyzing investments that are nevertheless essential to the energy transition... so many counterproductive measures.

In a company, when a strategy is put in place, there is always a phase of analysis, reflection and proposals, which leads to a period of adversarial debate where all positions are expressed and where a consensus capable of uniting everyone towards a common objective is sought. Then, once the Board of Directors has adopted the strategy, it applies to everyone. A phase of communication, awareness-raising and systematic implementation then begins.

Measurement instruments and monitoring reports are then developed in order to steer the deployment and evaluate the impact of the strategy. If gaps appear between objectives and results, corrective measures are taken. At any time, management and the Board can decide on a revision or adjustment, but this is done in an orderly and framed manner so as not to slow down or destabilize those who work on the realization of strategic projects. Thus a momentum is created, a collective and transformative energy, the only things capable of bringing success. For not believing in a strategy, or criticizing it after its adoption, is already condemning it before it has even been put to the test.

I know well that one does not run a nation like a company — even if some try — and that the democratic processes of a country like Switzerland are not comparable, by nature, to the principles of good corporate governance. But our inability, as a nation, to rally behind the Energy Strategy 2050 that we ourselves voted for is distressing and increasingly resembles scoring an own goal.

Instead of being exemplary, our country finds itself singled out, as was the case on April 9, 2024, when the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Switzerland had violated the European Convention because of the insufficiency of its climate policies.

As Switzerland is experiencing climate warming twice as fast as the global average, due to its continental and alpine location, and as signs of weakening multiply across our mountains — as tragically illustrated by the landslide in Blatten — there is no longer time to hesitate. We must mobilize collectively, change our habits, decarbonize our economy and, through our example, lead other nations to do the same.

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