CO<sub>2</sub> Ordinance
Inserted by No I of the O of 2 April 2025, in force since 1 May 2025 (AS 2025 248).
English is not an official language of the Swiss Confederation. This translation is provided for information purposes only and has no legal force.
Section 1 Measures to Avoid Damage
Art. 127h Funding eligibility
1 Financial assistance for adaptation measures (Art. 37b para. 1 let. a CO2 Act) shall be granted for planning and implementation of measures that contribute significantly either directly or indirectly to the avoidance of measures to persons and property of considerable value. 2 In particular, funding is provided for adaptation measures to prevent: a. Impairment to health due to increasing heat stress; b. Damage to persons and property due to the consequences of thawing permafrost and melting glaciers; c. Damage to persons and property caused by more frequent and intense precipitation events and their consequences, such as flooding, increased surface run-off and soil movements; d. Damage to agriculture, forestry, the energy industry and urban water management due to more frequent and prolonged periods of drought; e. Impairment to ecosystem services due to changes in habitats and species composition. 3 No financial assistance shall be granted for measures that do not comply with the fed
Art. 127i Amount of financial assistance
1 The amount of financial assistance is awarded on the basis of the benefit and impact of the measure. It shall be a maximum of 50 per cent of the allowable costs. 2 Allowable costs are the costs necessary and appropriate for the cost-effective and expedient implementation of the measure. They may not exceed the additional costs incurred by the adaptation measure.
Section 2 Measures to Decarbonise Installations
Art. 127j Funding eligibility
1 Financial assistance for measures to decarbonise installations (Art. 37b para. 1 let. b CO2 Act) shall be granted to operators that are required to take part in the ETS under Article 16 of the CO2 Act and who have not been exempted from this requirement in accordance with Article 41. 2 No financial assistance shall be granted for measures that do not make a significant contribution to the decarbonisation of an installation, such as the replacement of fossil fuels with other fossil fuels or measures for the supply of district heating networks. 3 If the measures are likely to lead to higher electricity consumption, electricity from non-fossil sources must be used to cover the increase in consumption and this must be documented with guarantees of origin. 4 Applications for financial assistance must be submitted to the FOEN by 31 March. 5 The FOEN may require verification of the information provided in the application at the operator's expense.
Art. 127k Amount of financial assistance
1 Financial assistance shall not exceed 50 per cent of the allowable costs. 2 Allowable costs are the investment costs directly necessary to implement the measure economically and efficiently.
Art. 127l Prioritisation criteria
If the submitted or expected applications exceed the funds available, financial assistance shall be granted according to the following criteria in the order in which they appear: a. amount of financial assistance applied for per avoided tonne of CO2eq or per targeted tonne of negative emissions throughout the duration of effect; b. scope of the targeted reduction in greenhouse gas emissions or the targeted negative emissions in tonnes of CO2eq; c. risk of greenhouse gas emissions being transferred abroad; d. reduction in the environmental impact throughout the entire life cycle of installations and products.
Section 3 Reporting and Payment of Financial Assis
Art. 127m Notification obligation and reporting
1 The FOEN must be informed immediately of any changes that may affect the granting of financial assistance. 2 Once the set interim targets have been reached or the measures implemented, a report must be submitted to the FOEN. This must contain as a minimum: a. details about the implementation status of the measures; b. a cost analysis with copies of invoices. 3 The report must be approved by the FOCA. 4 The installation operator in the ETS must submit an evaluation report three years after the measures have been implemented. This must contain details about: a. the extent of the annually achieved reduction in greenhouse gas emissions or the annually achieved impact from the use of negative emissions technologies in tonnes CO2eq in the last three years; b. any deviations from the originally planned measures giving reasons for these and describing the corrective measures planned. 5 The FOEN may require the evaluation report to be verified at the operator’s cost.
Art. 127n Payment of financial assistance
1 The FOEN shall pay out the financial assistance once it has approved the report. 2 In the case of measures with interim targets, the financial assistance shall be paid out to the extent that the measure has been implemented.
Art. 127o Reclaiming financial assistance
If the actual impact of the measure is less than 80 per cent of the impact stated in the application, the FOEN may demand a pro rata repayment of the financial assistance paid out.
Art. 127p Publication of information
The FOEN shall publish on its website information on the measures supported, maintaining manufacturing and business confidentiality. This shall include: a. name and address of the recipient of financial assistance; b. the amount of financial assistance; c. the nature of the measures.
