The Swiss government announced a decision to pause the revision of its ordinance on climate disclosures for companies, delaying the implementation of new climate-related reporting rules for companies, including a requirement for companies to provide plans to align with Switzerland’s net zero by 2050 climate target.
The delay of the new climate reporting rules comes primarily in response to the EU’s Omnibus process to simplify sustainability reporting and due diligence requirements for companies, with Switzerland’s Federal Council awaiting clarity on the outcome of the process to ensure regulatory alignment.
Switzerland passed its initial Ordinance on Climate Disclosures in 2022, mandating initial climate reporting by large companies and financial institutions beginning in 2025, with requirements to report on climate-related factors including greenhouse gas emissions, climate-related risks and impact, and targets and transition plans, based on the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).
In December 2024, the Council launched a consultation on a series of new proposals to revise the ordinance, with an update aimed at aligning its law with international developments, with companies able to meet their climate reporting obligations by aligning their disclosures with an internationally recognized standard such as the ISSB, or the CSRD’s European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS).
The revision also required companies to provide “net-zero roadmaps” with plans to achieve the goals of Switzerland’s recently passed Climate and Innovation Act, which includes a commitment to reach net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050.
While the consultation, which concluded in March 2025, indicated that the revisions were “broadly welcomed,” it also overlapped with the begging of the EU’s Omnibus process, and the Council announced at the conclusion of the consultation that it had instructed the Federal Department of Justice and Police to draw up the possible variants of amendments to sustainable corporate governance legislation, including the reporting obligations, in order “to guarantee fair trading conditions for Swiss companies in international comparison.”
In its new update, the Council announced that it has decided to pause the revision until it has more clarity on the amendments, and about regulatory developments in the EU. The Council said that it will decide on next steps on the sustainable corporate government legislation as soon as the EU has decided on its announced simplifications, but by early 2026 at the latest. It added that it has also paused its paused the project on companies’ climate disclosures until it approves the amendment bill, by January 1, 2027 at the latest.
