Federal Council decides on next steps with regard to companies' climate disclosures
Berne, 25.06.2025 — At its meeting on 25 June 2025, the Federal Council decided to pause the revision of the ordinance on climate disclosures for companies. While the revision was broadly welcomed during the consultation phase, on 21 March 2025 the Federal Council requested that possible variants for a pragmatic amendment of the provisions on sustainability reporting be drawn up. For this reason, implementation of the ordinance on climate disclosures for companies is to be paused until there is clarity about these amendments, and about regulatory developments in the European Union.
The Ordinance on Climate Disclosures entered into force on 1 January 2024. The Federal Council had instructed the Federal Department of Finance (FDF) to review the international comparability of these rules within three years. In addition, the Federal Council instructed the FDF to draw up minimum requirements which ensure that financial companies' climate goals are implemented in line with the Climate Protection Act.
Based on the results of these mandates, in the consultation draft of 6 December 2024 the Federal Council proposed that the ordinance be aligned with the latest international developments on standardised reporting, and that minimum requirements on roadmaps for financial sector companies be defined. These proposals were largely welcomed during the consultation. However, there were broad calls for the implementation of the ordinance to be paused until the Federal Council had approved the ongoing revision of the overarching legislation on sustainability reporting in the Code of Obligations.
At its meeting on 21 March 2025, the Federal Council took note of the results of the consultation on these amendments to the Code of Obligations and instructed the Federal Department of Justice and Police to draw up the possible variants for a pragmatic amendment of the current legislation on sustainable corporate governance, including the provisions on sustainability reporting in the Code of Obligations. The Federal Council will decide on the next steps as soon as the European Union has decided on its announced simplifications, but at the latest in early 2026.
For this reason, the Federal Council has decided to also pause the project on companies' climate disclosures until it has approved the bill to amend the Code of Obligations, but at the latest by 1 January 2027.