The Swiss Federal Council has opened a consultation on a counter-proposal to a popular initiative that calls on companies to respect human rights and protect the environment. +Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox A first popular initiative on the subject failed at the ballot box in 2020, winning a majority of the people but not of the cantons. To succeed, a popular initiative must be adopted by a double-majority. A counter-proposal came into force in 2022, obliging multinationals to present a sustainability report in addition to a traditional annual report. According to the authors of the first initiative, this counter-proposal “had no effect”, so they submitted a new responsible business initiative. The Federal Council has rejected this initiative, but is proposing an indirect counter-proposal in the form of a special law introducing duties of diligence and transparency, it said in a press release on Thursday. Around 30 large companies would be affected by …