The last two months have brought impressive developments with the G20 Leaders stating that “green finance needs to be scaled up” and the EU setting up a sustainable finance expert group.

As the Paris Agreement will come into force on the 4 November 2016, with Brazil, China, USA, India, and most recently the EU as well as Canada having ratified it, pressure is building up and national governments will increasingly seek to encourage sustainable finance via policies and regulations.

In Switzerland, the momentum is building up more slowly as confirmed by the latest SFI study. However, what can be noted is that the role of the financial sector has been included in the comments on the revision of the CO2 law, which is the basis for the implementation of the Paris Agreement in Switzerland. Generally, our country relies on private sector initiatives for next steps in the integration of material sustainability factors.

SSF's next important initiative will be the publication of a handbook on sustainable investments for institutional investors by the end of November. We are convinced this will be an important instrument to support a further adoption of long-term principles in investments.

Kind regards

Sabine Döbeli

CEO Swiss Sustainable Finance

SSF activities

Regulatory and Market News

SSF and sustainable finance in the media

New members joining SSF

Save these dates

New studies & reports

Read short summaries of our activities here and gain more insights on our website

Quantifying natural resource risks for lending and investment decisions, 3 October 2016, Zurich

financial industry in order to better understand credit risk, protect investment returns and improve insurance industry resilience to a changing operating environment. Read more

SSF present at SFI Annual Meeting: Sustainable Finance Moving Center Stage, 4 October 2016, Zurich

At the annual SFI (Swiss Finance Institute) meeting, Sabine Döbeli, CEO SSF, took part in a panel discussion on Long-Term Investing: Good intentions versus short-term behavior. With her on the panel were Dr. Guido Fürer (Group CIO, Swiss Re), Prof. Philipp Krüger (University of Geneva and Swiss Finance Institute) and H.S.H. Prince Max von und zu Liechtenstein (CEO, LGT). The animated panel discussion was moderated by Reto Lipp (Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen SRF) and touched on topics around the mainstreaming of sustainable finance and what can help, as well as hinder, the process. Read more

SSF was also part of many other events and discussions

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Below you find some of the most prominent topics over the last 2 months.

Swiss news

The Federal Council announced the consultation opening of the new climate policy, the ratification of the Paris Agreement and the Swiss integration to the European Emissions Trading System (EU ETS). During the media conference Federal Councilor Doris Leuthard mentioned the importance of “greening the financial flows” and the centrality of the financial system in order to achieve these international goals. In the explanatory report (Erläuterungsbericht/rapport explicatif/rapporto esplicativo) the federal institutions explain first measures for how sustainable finance could be scaled up.

Please also see our comprehensive overview under “Swiss Essentials"

International initiatives

• G20: The Green Finance Study Group submitted its Synthesis Report to the leaders of the G20. This Report was based on 14 input papers, drafted by a variety of organisations such as the IMF, OECD and the BIS, one of them drafted by the Swiss State Secretariat for International Finance (SIF). On September 4/5 the annual meeting of the G20 was held in Hangzhou. For the first time “green finance” appeared as a core focus of the final Communiqué, emphasizing the importance to scale up efforts as well as defining action points.
• EU: The action agenda for the capital market reform has been announced. Green finance was stressed with a new expert group to be created on the European Level to “create a comprehensive strategy on sustainable finance." The Commission “will also adopt non-binding guidelines on the methodology” used by all companies to report on ESG issues to investors and consumers. Furthermore, EUR 200 billion will be channeled into low carbon investments by the European Fund for Strategic Investment.
• The Peoples Bank of China and six other agencies jointly issued “Guidelines for establishing a green financial system” in China.

Market: thought leaders in finance

• Mark Carney (Bank Of England, Financial Stability Board), one year after his talk on “Tragedy of the Horizon” related to climate change, talks about how to resolve the “Climate Paradox”. He highlights that green finance is necessary to cut emissions and will bring economic growth.
• Henry M. Paulson (former Treasury secretary and CEO of Goldman Sachs) discusses in a highly regarded article in the New York Times the necessity to take up momentum on green finance.
• Nick Robins and Simon Zadek (co-heads of UNEP Inquiry) discuss latest sustainable finance trends in Fortune Magazine. 
• Peter Thomson (incoming President of the UN General Assembly) puts financing for sustainable development center stage.

Market trends

• World’s first green securities exchange announced in Luxembourg. 
• Investors controlling 13trn USD call on G20 leaders to ratify Paris climate agreement, mentioning that countries that move first will attract investments and calling for regulators to force disclosure of climate-related risks. 
• New coalition launched (founded by Credit Suisse, The Nature Conservancy (TNC), International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and Cornell University) to create investment opportunities and tools to help bring conservation projects to the market (recent White House Paper also highlights this need).
• Major European pension investors made explicit commitment to use the UN Sustainable Development Goals as the reference framework for an increasing amount of investments. 
• PRI decides to introduce de-listing process for non conforming signatories.

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• 1 October 2016, RTS, Les banques suisses ont trop négligé les investissements durables (Interview with SSF Vice-President Angela de Wolff)
• September 2016, Schweizer Bank,  Sustainable Finance wird zum Standard, (Interview with SSF President Jean-Daniel Gerber)
• September 2016, SPHERE, Innovative Investitionen hochwertig, mit viel Knowhow, Des investissement innovants, de grande qualité, de haut savoir  (Interview with SSF CEO Sabine Döbeli)
• 26 September 2016, NZZ, Laues Schweizer Interesse an Soloeinlage
• 23 September 2016, 20 Minuten, Schweizer Finanzplatz befeuert den Klimawandel, La place financière dope le changement climatique, Piazza finanziaria in rialzo: +6°C
• 17 September 2016, Finanz und Wirtschaft, Schweizer Multis sind top
• 11 September 2016, Le Temps, Les actifs gérés par des fonds de microfinance ont quintuplé en dix ans
• 2 September 2016, L’AGEFI, Transparent, lisible, comparable

Visit our website for regularly updated articles on SSF and sustainable finance

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We welcome the following organisations as new SSF members or network partners:

Upcoming SSF Events or with SSF contribution

• Lugano, 24 October 2016, La finanza sostenibile incontra la moda sostenibile. This SSF event will be held in Italian and will focus on how the fashion industry integrates sustainability factors into their supply chains. More details here.
• Winterthur, 14 November 2016, Swiss Green Economy Symposium (SGES) 2016. SSF and south pole group are organising an Innovation Forum at the SGES.

Other Events

• Zurich, 25 October 2016, Forum Kapitalmarktinstrumente – Kapitalmarktfinanzierung: Swiss Financial Centre in Fourth Industrial Revolution
• Munich, 25 October 2016, CDP Climate Leadership Award Conference, CDP
• Geneva, 2 November 2016, SFI Evening Seminar on Sustainable Finance, Swiss Finance Institute & Geneva Finance Research Institute
• Olten, 3 November 2016, ABS-Geldgespräche: Der Weg ist das Ziel, ABS
• Vezia, 14 November 2016, SFI Evening Seminar on Sustainable Finance, Swiss Finance Institute & Centro di Studi Bancari
• Frankfurt am Main, 17 November 2016, Decarbonise Aligning Investment portfolios with the 2° target, responsible-investor

Further events are listed on our website

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Reports you should not miss.

• September 2016, Swiss Finance Institute: Sustainable Finance in Switzerland: Where do We Stand?
• September 2016, UNEP Inquiry: The financial system we need: From Momentum to Transformation
• September 2016, UNEP Inquiry: Financing Sustainable Development - Moving from momentum to transformation in a time of turmoil
• September 2016, PRI: A practical guide to ESG integration for equity investing
• September 2016, IIGCC: Improving the pricing of risk: Aligning the EU financial system and climate change
• September 2016, Symbiotics SA: 2016 Symbiotics MIV Survey
• August 2016, GIIN: The Business Value of Impact Measurement

Read these and other recent reports

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Best regards

The SSF team

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