Switzerland’s government said on Wednesday it had agreed on a voluntary gas saving target of 15% for the winter half year from October 2024 to March 2025 in order to support European efforts to cut gas demand following the war in Ukraine.

In March, European Union (EU) member states extended a voluntary target to reduce gas consumption through March 2025 by at least 15% compared to their average gas consumption in the period between April 2017 and March 2022.

The EU began the savings drive in 2022 in response to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine as European countries scrambled to lower their reliance on Russian gas.

The Swiss Federal Council said in a statement that the neutral Alpine country is completely dependent on gas imports and would be directly affected by a shortage in Europe.

“It will therefore support the EU’s gas saving target in solidarity, as it did the last two winter semesters,” the Council said, noting that the gas supply situation remained tense due to what it called “geopolitical tensions.”
Source: Reuters (Writing by Dave Graham, Editing by Madeline Chambers)