| Cote: |
163 |
| Auteur: |
GASOWSKA Claudia |
| Année: |
Septembre 2023 |
| Titre: |
Fighting pesticides through popular rights - Limits and obstacles of the popular initiative “For a Switzerland free of synthetic pesticides” |
| Sous la direction de: |
Prof. Hervé Rayner |
| Type: |
Mémoire de master en durabilité |
| Pages: |
98 |
| Complément: |
33 pages d'annexes paginées (transcriptions d'entretiens) |
| Remarques: |
mémoire rédigé en anglais |
| Fichier PDF: |
 Mémoire [8.9 Mo]
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| Mots-clés: |
popular initiative / pesticides / plant protection products / agriculture / biodiversity / agricultural policy / pesticide pollution / phytosanitary products |
| Résumé: |
Swiss citizens have the possibility to propose changes to the Constitution via a direct democracy tool, the federal popular initiative. On June 13th, 2021, the initiative “For a Switzerland free of synthetic pesticides” was rejected by over 60% of the Swiss voters, a popular initiative launched by a group of citizens worried about the environmental and public health impacts in relation to the use of synthetic pesticides in agriculture. The initiative called for a complete ban on synthetic pesticide use in food production and transformation as well as land maintenance and private use. Worldwide biodiversity loss and environmental pollution caused by agricultural practices and pesticides are both concerns that were famously raised by Rachel Carson in 1962 in her book "Silent Spring" and remain topics that are still very much relevant today and were part of the arguments used in favour of the initiative.
This master’s thesis combines qualitative research methods including a literature review, a press kit analysis, and interviews to investigate the challenges and difficulties met by the committee responsible for initiating the popular initiative. It demonstrates that a multitude of obstacles and problems made the political campaign of the anti- pesticide initiative quite a challenge, and ultimately led to its rejection.
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