Since 1997, the Federal Council has operated a Sustainable Development Strategy as the basis for implementing its constitutional task of sustainable development in Switzerland. Alongside the federal policy guidelines, the current strategy also includes an action plan with concrete aims for the duration of the current legislative period (2008–2011).

To make the Administration's work more transparent, a technical report provides an insight into implementation activities carried out under the action plan. The first interim report on the strategy's implementation status will be published in summer 2009.  

Five guidelines

These guidelines are based on Articles 2, 54 and 73 of the Federal Constitution and on international reference documents issued by the UN and the OECD with valid indefinitely:

1. Fulfilling our responsibility towards the future means promoting the principles of prevention, «polluter pays», and liability.
2. Balanced consideration of the three target dimensions means that none of the three areas of environmental responsibility, economic performance and social solidarity should be given more attention than another.
3. Incorporating sustainable development into all areas of policy: Sustainable development should be incorporated as a maxim into all areas of politics and political processes of the Federal Council and Federal Administration.
4. Improving coordination between policy areas and enhancing coherence: The social, economic and environmental impact of key political decisions should be analysed and assessed at an early stage, taking into account transparent decision-making processes, the full involvement of all stakeholders, and openly weighing up all conflicts of interest.
5. Achieving sustainable development on the basis of partnership: All institutional levels (cantons, municipalities, regions, the Confederation) should work together constructively and fulfil their crucial role as an interface to civil society and the private sector.

Action Plan 2008-2011

The action plan contains 30 measures in 11 thematic action areas. The corresponding Federal Administration departments are responsible for implementation. The Interdepartmental Sustainable Development Committee (ISDC) is composed of members of the various departments and coordinates the implementation of all measures.

• Tackling global warming and overcoming natural hazards
• Boosting economic productivity in combination with a decoupling from resource and energy consumption
• Sustainable use of natural resources and minimizing environmental impact
• Ensuring fair access to social and economic resources and improving the integration of all population groups
• Increasing the effectiveness of the global fight against poverty, and building peace.

The intention is to significantly intensify the assessment and optimization of political projects from the viewpoint of sustainable development (sustainability assessment), as well as monitoring (MONET) and controlling over the course of the current action plan.