On 2 April 2025, the Swiss Federal Council brought the CO₂ Ordinance into force with retroactive effect from 1 January 2025. With a delay of five years, the amount of carbon offset obligation to be paid by the KliK Foundation by 2030 is now known. Between 2025 and 2030, the Foundation must achieve reductions in Switzerland equivalent to at least 12 per cent of CO₂ emissions from the transport sector; this is expected to be just under 10 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent (CO₂e). In addition, further reductions of an estimated 20 million tonnes of CO₂e need to be achieved, which can also be realised through climate protection activities abroad that are certified under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.

The KliK Foundation was thus informed of the extent of its obligation at a time when the activities required for fulfilling that obligation should already have been known to it, contractually secured, and ready for implementation – provided that the obligation is to be realistically considered capable of being fulfilled. That is not a tenable assumption. It is only thanks to the far-sighted work of the KliK Foundation that the fulfilment of the carbon offset obligation by 2030 is still within the realms of possibility today – but without being guaranteed in the slightest.

A long-term, stable legal framework of at least ten years is required for carbon offsetting to function properly as a policy tool. Unfortunately, this argument has once again failed to gain traction in climate policy, and so the horizon of the CO₂ Act once again ends in the far too near future. Although the Swiss people have decreed a net-zero target by 2050, there is no plan as to how this is to be achieved.

The KliK Foundation continues to do everything in its power to fulfil its legal mandate to the best of its ability. It is short-sighted to conclude from the fact that it has succeeded in doing so without fault so far, that this will also be the case in the future. One cannot raise the bar fivefold within a decade without creating the framework conditions to ensure that it can be reached.

In addition, sustainable commercial relationships with private investors and efficient processes at the government agencies involved are essential for our success, as this third issue of our journal demonstrates. Despite the lamentable shortcomings, let us take you once again into the inspiring world of climate protection!

We hope you enjoy the many exciting insights in the third issue of the KliK Journal.