Companies Start of collection for a new corporate responsibility initiative
The federal government should have to ensure that Swiss corporations and their subsidiaries abroad respect human rights and environmental protection. This is the demand of the new Responsible Business Initiative of the Coalition for Corporate Responsibility.
07.01.2025, 09:46
07.01.2025, 11:32
SDA
The coalition must collect 100,000 valid signatures by July 7, 2026 for the initiative to be passed. It presented its initiative to the media in Bern on Tuesday. It argued that corporations based in Switzerland repeatedly violate human rights and basic environmental regulations.
Switzerland should not remain an island
With the constitutional article, she wants to prevent Switzerland from remaining an island without corporate responsibility. Several European countries now have corresponding laws. The EU also passed a due diligence directive last year. However, the discussion in Switzerland is not making any progress.
The new obligations should apply to companies with more than 1000 employees and a turnover of CHF 450 million. They and their subsidiaries should also have to comply with due diligence obligations on human rights and environmental protection abroad. They should also be obliged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
An independent supervisory body will carry out spot checks to ensure that companies are complying with the requirements. If companies or companies controlled by them cause damage, they should be held liable. Anyone affected by human rights violations by Swiss companies should be able to take legal action.
Implementation within two years
Parliament would have to adopt the legal provisions for the implementation of the initiative no later than two years after the yes vote. The text of the initiative was published in the Federal Gazette on Tuesday.
The first Responsible Business Initiative passed the popular vote in 2020, but not the majority of the cantons. The coalition criticized the legal provisions that came into force afterwards. This ineffective counter-proposal was largely introduced at the request of corporate lobbyists, it wrote.
