SSF present at other events 2020

On the ESG & Sustainable Finance Skills Day as part of the third Climate Finance Week Ireland, SSF Deputy CEO Jean Laville participated in a panel for the launch of the UN FC4S pan-European Sustainable Finance Skills Gap Report. View the full programme of the event here and the recording of the event here.

Due to the current situation, the annual Financial Centres for Sustainability (FC4S) General meeting was held virtually over three consecutive weeks. SSF was present at all three meetings. During the final meeting, SSF Director Projects, Kelly Hess, presented the most recent developments in the Zürich financial centre, as SSF officially represents Zürich within this network.

SSF CEO Sabine Döbeli participated in a panel at the 38th Lifefair Forum to discuss recent developments in sustainable finance with her co-panellists, Dr. Elgin Brunner (WWF Switzerland), Jörg Gasser (SwissBanking), Dr. David Gerber (State Secretariat for International Finance SIF) and Marcel Palicek (Burckhardt Compression AG). Lack of transparency and standards were seen as important barriers for a further uptake of sustainability factors in financial decisions. While some saw the main solution for climate change in new technology, others stressed the importance of taking broader ESG factors into account and making sustainable finance the new normal. Find more information about the Forum here

At the Finanz und Wirtschaft Forum 2020, SSF CEO Sabine Döbeli gave a keynote interview, moderated by Philippe Béguelin (Finanz und Wirtschaft), on market developments and regulatory trends in sustainable finance. View the full programme of the event here.

SSF CEO Sabine Döbeli discussed developments in sustainable and impact investing on a panel at the SIX Börsentalk, together with Dr. Tillmann Lang from SSF member Yova Impact Investing, as well as Michael Haupt (Bank Vontobel) and Claus Hecher (BNP Paribas) and moderator Ruedi Keller (The Market). View a recording of the session here.

SSF was a partner for the Innovation Forum on sustainable investments at the Swiss Green Economy Symposium. SSF CEO Sabine Döbeli moderated a panel with private and public sector representatives as well as politicians on how investors can improve the impact of their investments. View the full programme of the event here.

At Greenbuzz’s first online event with chapters in Zurich, Bern, Geneva and Berlin on the topic of 'Post Covid-19 - Our opportunity for a More Sustainable World', SSF CEO Sabine Döbeli presented the results of the 2019 Market study and provided insights into how Covid-19 has influenced sustainable investing. Sabine Döbeli further showed possibilities for sustainable investment to support tackling the crisis and ways forward. Listen to the presentation here.

As part of Guernsey Sustainable Finance Week, SSF CEO Sabine Döbeli participated in a podcast  to share views on Covid-19’s impact from Switzerland and wider Europe. Listen to the podcast here!

At the inaugural event for the “Women in Asset Management” initative, launched by Alpha FMC Switzerland, four women discussed challenges and opportunities linked to sustainable investing. SSF CEO Sabine Döbeli moderated the panel.

At FINANZ’20, the largest finance fair in Switzerland, SSF Director Projects Kelly Hess spoke at a roundtable on sustainable investments. The topic of sustainable finance was not only covered by this roundtable, but also through a high concentration of speeches, as this chart shows.  

View a video summary here

In January, SSF was at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos for multiple side events related to sustainable finance. Sabine Döbeli joined the Sina Davos Breakfast session on Chinese ESG practices in a global context, presenting the Swiss experience and track record in sustainable finance. Later that day, Sabine was also on the Tech4Good panel held at the House of Switzerland, which was launched by Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis. The panelist discussed how partnerships between the Swiss public sector, academia and the private sector – specifically financial players – contribute to making the buildings of the future more energy-efficient.

How can public and private finance address biodiversity risks and leverage corresponding opportunities? At the Swiss Academy of Science's conference on investing in biodiversity, Sabine Döbeli explained how the financial system works and what implications can be drawn for biodiversity and nature, showing the opportunities and limits of current approaches in the financial industry. The presentation can be downloaded here and a summary of the event is available here.