8/6/2023 0 Comments Emergency climate lockdown![]() ![]() My previous article suggested that lockdown policies are to the pandemic what decarbonization (“net zero by 2050”) is to climate change. This led to vast public resources being spent on subsidies and mandates over the past two decades in the US and Western Europe to push expensive and unreliable “renewable energy” technologies, ultimately with little impact on global dependence on fossil fuels. This could be compared, as I previously pointed out, to the alarmist “ hockey stick” global warming chart adopted by climate activists, mass media and politicians since its publication in 1999. In my previous article, I already pointed out how the not-fit-for-purpose model of Professor Neil Ferguson of Imperial College, London panicked governments in the UK and the US into severe economic and social lockdowns with incalculable collateral damage on the lives and livelihoods of entire populations in many countries. The use of predictive models, often with highly disputed assumptions, has played an out-sized role in guiding government responses. Let’s revisit some of these parallels in government policy towards the Covid pandemic and climate change. They betray a range of critical defects in policy making, from an inordinate dependence on speculative models to the lack of transparency and the ideological corruption of science, selective reporting and group think, and the suppression of sceptics. The striking parallels in government policy to mitigate perceived “existential threats” to humanity have become even more notable. ![]() Developments over the past year have only served to emphasize the resilient nature of these similarities. Just over a year ago, I wrote in these pages an article noting the remarkable similarities in government policy responses to the impacts of the global Covid-19 pandemic and to those of climate change. (Photo by Hector RETAMAL / AFP) (Photo by HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP via Getty Images) AFP via Getty Images World Health Organization (WHO) team investigating the origins of the COVID-19 coronavirus make a visit to the institute in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province on February 3, 2021. We want the additional tax revenue to stay in the country, and be used to improve its attractiveness for businesses," said Christian Frey, from Economiesuisse, a lobby group.Security personnel stand guard outside the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan as members of the. "No other country is going to have lower taxes either. While all would be affected, business groups have welcomed the greater certainty that the new tax would bring, even if Switzerland lost some of its low-tax allure. Switzerland is home to the offices and headquarters of around 2,000 foreign companies, including Google (GOOGL.O) as well as 200 Swiss multinationals, such as Nestle (NESN.S). In Sunday's referendum, voters also approved extending some provisions of the country's emergency COVID-19 law, required under Switzerland's system of direct democracy, where legislation is put to the public vote. Proponents say the law is the minimum the wealthy country needs to do to prove its commitment to fighting climate change while opponents from the right wing People's Party say it will jeopardise energy security. The climate law, brought back in a modified form after it was rejected in 2021 as too costly, has stirred up more debate with those campaigning against it gaining traction in recent weeks. In 2021, Switzerland joined almost 140 countries that signed up to an Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) deal to set a minimum tax rate for big companies, a move aimed at limiting the practice of shifting profits to low tax countries.Įven with the increase, Switzerland will still have one of the lowest corporate tax levels in the world, and the proposal, estimated to bring 2.5 billion Swiss francs ($2.80 billion) per year in additional revenue, has been backed by business groups, most political parties, and the public. The climate law was likewise approved and received the support of 59% of voters. "It will on top also create legal certainty and a stable framework." "This ensures that Switzerland will not lose any tax revenue to foreign countries," Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter said. The results showed almost 80% of those who voted in Sunday's national referendum backed raising the country's business tax to the 15% global minimum rate from the current average minimum of 11%, an unusually strong endorsement. ZURICH, June 18 (Reuters) - Voters in Switzerland on Sunday approved the introduction of a global minimum tax on businesses and a climate law that aims to cut fossil fuel use and reach zero emissions by 2050, public broadcaster SRF reported. Extension to COVID-19 law wins approval. ![]()
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