May 27, 2025 – PRESS RELEASE

New Responsible Business Initiative submitted

Within just two weeks, more than 10,000 volunteers collected the necessary signatures for the new Responsible Business Initiative in January. Today, 287,164 signatures were submitted to the Federal Chancellery.

On January 7, 2025, a committee of politicians from all political camps, entrepreneurs and civil society representatives launched the new Responsible Business Initiative. It would oblige corporations such as Glencore to comply with human rights and environmental regulations in their business activities.

After just 14 days, 183,661 people had already signed the initiative, thanks to over 1,000 signature collection events that thousands of volunteers had organized in public places all over Switzerland in mid-January. Now that enough signatures have been certified by the municipalities, the Responsible Business Initiative was submitted to the Federal Chancellery today.

National Councillor and committee member Stefan Müller-Altermatt (Christian democratic Center party) says: „Switzerland must not become the only country in Europe without corporate accountability. If a company pollutes the environment or destroys entire regions, then it should be held accountable. The fact that the signatures were collected so quickly clearly shows how much support there is among the population for this issue.“

Switzerland soon to be the only country without corporate accountability

In 2020, opponents of the first Responsible Business Initiative warned during the referendum campaign that Switzerland would introduce „globally unique liability rules“. The Federal Council promised to take an „internationally coordinated“ approach and to strive for a „level playing field“ for companies in Switzerland and the EU.

However, although various European countries such as Germany and Norway have since introduced corporate accountability laws and the European Union adopted a due diligence directive in spring 2024, the discussion in Switzerland has not progressed.

It would also be important for companies in Switzerland to finally have a predictable regulatory framework: „With the initiative, we are calling for an internationally coordinated corporate accountability law. This will protect the vast majority of properly operating Swiss companies and create legal certainty,“ says Lorenz Hess, committee member and Member of the National Council (Christian democratic Center party).

Strong need for action

To this day, companies based in Switzerland continue to violate human rights and basic environmental regulations: A Glencore mine in Peru contaminates an entire region, the Geneva-based metal trading group IXM leaves behind around 300,000 tons of highly toxic waste in Namibia, and the Geneva-based Louis Dreyfus Company traded sugar from plantations in India where women are pushed to remove their wombs to avoid missing work.

The new Responsible Business Initiative will put an end to such business practices.