EFTA–Mercosur Free Trade Agreement: The climate implications for Switzerland
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Alliance Sud and Public Eye | April 2026
EFTA–Mercosur Free Trade Agreement: The climate implications for Switzerland
- Executive Summary
This report quantifies the greenhouse-gas implications of the EFTA–Mercosur agreement for
Switzerland. Based on the agricultural trade quotas established under the agreement, current
trade structures, and commodity-specific emission factors, it identifies the products and trade
flows most likely to generate additional emissions.
The results show that the climate impacts associated with the agreement are substantial and
highly concentrated. Switzerland emerges as the single most affected EFTA country in the
modelled scenario. Total emissions linked to Swiss import and export quotas reach 343.6
thousand tonnes CO2e, a 112% increase over current trade levels. Of this, 190.9 thousand
tonnes CO2e are associated with Mercosur exports to Switzerland, while 152.7 thousand
tonnes CO2e are associated with Swiss exports to Mercosur.
For Swiss imports, the hotspots are oil cake (84.8 thousand tCO2e), beef (48.9 thousand
tCO2e), soybean oil (12.5 thousand tCO2e) and groundnut oil (6.6 thousand tCO2e). On the
export side, the main hotspots are chocolate bars (65.5 thousand tCO2e), other chocolate
products (63.3 thousand tCO2e), white chocolate (13.1 thousand tCO2e), cheese (6.5
thousand tCO2e) and filled chocolate bars (3.5 thousand tCO2e).
A further key result is that the emissions profile is driven overwhelmingly by production, not by
transport alone. At the aggregate level of the quota scenario, production accounts for 334.3
thousand tCO2e, or 97.3% of total quota-related emissions, while transport accounts for 9.3
thousand tCO2e, or 2.7%.
For Switzerland, the policy implication is clear: the agreement should not be treated simply as
a commercial arrangement with external environmental side effects. It carries a substantial
embodied carbon burden directly linked to Swiss trade, and that burden is concentrated in a
small number of clearly identifiable commodity chains.
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