The government plans a 75% emission cut by 2050 but the right-wing Swiss People's Party warned the plan will cause energy prices to rise. A separate vote on higher corporate taxes is being held.
Ednews informs via DW that Swiss voters took part in referenda Sunday on a new climate protection law and higher corporate taxes, with polls indicating that both measures will pass.
Parliament already passed the climate law, which aims to make Switzerland climate neutral by 2050 and reduce the impact on the country's iconic glaciers, which are melting away at an alarming rate.
But the right-wing conservative Swiss People's Party (SVP) has refused to back it, arguing that cutting climate-damaging emissions by 75% by 2050, compared to 1990, would cause energy prices to explode.
SVP leader Marco Chiesa last month criticized the "utopian" vision behind the bill, maintaining it would drive up energy costs by 400 billion Swiss francs (€447 billion, €4.08 billion) while having basically "no impact" on the global climate.
The SVP collected sufficient signatures to force the referendum vote under Switzerland's system of direct democracy.