With the last decade’s fast developments in sustainable finance, the path to a more sustainable financial system and economy as a whole has become clearer. The 2020’s have now started with numerous positive movements. At this year’s World Economic Forum, we saw a high concentration of events focused on sustainability, signalling that business leaders have taken notice.

An attest to this are the recent announcements by the largest global asset manager, BlackRock, promising to implement policies to convert all active portfolios and advisory strategies to be “fully ESG integrated”, or by America’s largest bank, J.P. Morgan, to create a Development Finance Institution that will finance projects in emerging economies. Finally, many of the EU Action Plan elements will, or have already, taken effect and the EU Commission has announced a next, even more ambitious, sustainable finance program.

The timeline and methods as to how we can build sustainable considerations into financial decisions and push forward to reach internationally agreed goals have thus been set. Read more about what else has been going on in the market in this month’s newsletter.

Kind regards,

Kelly Hess

Director Projects, Swiss Sustainable Finance

SSF activities at a glance

Regulatory and market news

New members joining SSF

Join these events

SSF and sustainable finance in the media

New reports & studies

Publication on EU Action Plan

SSF and ICMA green bond event

SSF at World Economic Forum (WEF)

Roundtable on sustainable investments at FINANZ‘20

WWF & SSF joint workshop series

Preparation for Market Study 2020

Read more about these and other SSF activities

Back to top

Swiss news

• The University of Zurich launched a new Centre of Competence for Sustainable Finance, which was inaugurated with a speech by Nobel Laureate Joseph E. Stiglitz this January.
• At the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, sustainable finance took center stage, with multiple events organised by the Swiss government in the House of Switzerland covering topics such as financial sector strategies against human trafficking and slavery.
• In the first session of the new Swiss Parliament in December, 10 parliamentary items of business were filed on the topic of sustainable finance.
• The CFA Society Switzerland launched a new qualification in ESG Investing.

International initiatives

• Late December 2019, the EU Council and the Parliament reached an agreement on a proposed Regulation for an EU classification system for sustainable investments (Taxonomy), which is set to be formally adopted by the wider EU Parliament in spring. Accompanying these developments is a stakeholder dialogue taking place on 12 March, where the TEG will present a final report.
• The EU is currently collecting feedback on its roadmap for amending the Non-Financial Reporting Directive (NFRD), which helps to ensure that investors have access to information they need.
• In addition, a public consultation is now open on the proposed EU Ecolabel criteria for Retail Financial Products. The consultation deadline has been extended to 3 April.
• On 6 February, ESMA, the European Securities and Markets Authority, released a Sustainable Finance Strategy, stating that it is ready to accept any new supervisory mandates related to sustainable finance.

Market trends

• In a prominent announcement early January, BlackRock joined the global investor engagement initiative Climate Action 100+ which now represents more than USD 41 tn.
• Early this year, a landmark climate-related shareholder resolution was filed at large European bank Barclays, calling upon the bank to set targets for phasing out fossil fuel financing.
• At the Australian National Contact Point (NCP) for the OECD Guidelines, a complaint was filed by bushfire victims against the ANZ Group, a large Australian and New Zealand Bank, for financing fossil fuel projects.
• Also earlier this month, American indigenous representatives submitted a complaint against Credit Suisse at the US NCP for the banks’ financial relationship with the operators of the Dakota Access Pipeline, despite an updated policy on project financing.
• A new transition index was launched by Church of England with FTSE Russel, which enables passive funds to capture company alignment with climate transition.
• J.P. Morgan announced the creation of a Development Finance Institution (DFI) to expand development-oriented financing activities.
• A group of investors has launched a database that provides information on tailing storage facilities, condensing all disclosures that mining companies have.

Back to top

We are happy to welcome the following organisations to our network:

The full list of our members and network partners, now standing at 140, can be found on the SSF website.

Back to top

Upcoming SSF events:

• 20 February 2020, WWF Switzerland & SSF joint breakfast event, 3^rd edition of event series to meet the academics, Geneva (for SSF members and partners only)
• 8 June 2020, SSF Market Study 2020 Launch Event, Zurich (more information soon)
• 30 June 2020, SSF Members’ Assembly and Annual Conference, Bern (more information soon)
  

Other sustainable finance events:

• 11 March 2020: Workshop on “Unternehmensverantwortung im Finanzsektor managen”, organised by SECO, National Contact Point (NCP) of Switzerland and SSF, Bern
• 2-3 April 2020, St. Gallen Forum for Management of Renewable Energies, organised by the University of St. Gallen, St. Gallen
• 9 June 2020, Geneva Forum for Sustainable Investments, (where SSF will present its Market Study 2020 results), Geneva

 Other activities & opportunities:

• The University of Lichtenstein has announced a Call for Papers for its 2020 Workshop on Sustainable Finance. Deadline for submission is 3 March.
• For the Geneva Summit on Sustainable Finance 2020, the organiser are also calling for papers, to be submitted by 1 May.

Further events are currently being planned – more information on our website

Back to top

• 10 February 2020, Tagesanzeiger, «Wir wollen bei jedem Fonds den CO2-Fussabdruck senken»
• 6 February 2020, Handelszeitung, Rendite mit gutem Gewissen: Ein Börsenvorstoss setzt auf grüne Firmen
• 5 February 2020, NZZ, Die Klimaerwärmung ist ein viel zu ernstes und komplexes Problem, als dass es allein von den Banken gelöst werden könnte
• 27 January 2020, Le Temps, Un rapport épingle les votes de BlackRock dans les assemblées générales
• 21 January 2020, Swissinfo, Klimawandel führt zu mehr Risiken für die Finanzmärkte
• 15 January 2020, Rete Uno (RSI), Primo set agli eco-attivisti (Radio interview featuring SSF Board member Giovanni Vergani)
• 11 January 2020, NZZ am Sonntag, So helfen grüne Investitionen nicht nur dem eigenen Gewissen
• 8 January 2020, NZZ, Finanzmarkt muss laut einem Gutachten die Klimarisiken berücksichtigen
• 7 January 2020, finews.ch, Die Schweiz als Pionieren und Trendsetterin im nachhaltigen Investieren
• 3 January 2020, Le Temps, Les investissements dans le fossile bientôt illégaux ?

Visit our website for more articles and regular updates

Back to top

• January 2020: The Global Risk Report 2020, presented at the WEF, revealed for the first time that the top five most likely risks facing our society are all climate-related.
• January 2020: In their recent publication entitled “Nature is too big to fail”, PwC and WWF Switzerland highlight how the financial risks associated with the loss of biodiversity will become increasingly important.
• January 2020: The Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) has released the 2^nd edition of it State of Impact Measurement and Management Practice, a survey of impact investors’ objectives, strategies and processes.
• January 2020: In the Financial Stability Report 2019 published by the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA), a thematic chapter on climate risk assesses the sovereign bond portfolios of European insurers in a scenario of disorderly introduction of climate policies.
• January 2020: The European Banking Authority (EBA) published a report on ESG market practices, stating that credit institutions are still in the early stages of ESG integration
• January 2020: The European Corporate Reporting Lab, part of the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG), published a first report on How to improve climate-related reporting, which aims to provide information for TCFD and NFRD.
• January 2020: Climate-related economic disruptions might require significant interventions to fend off crisis, also from central banks, warns a recent book published by the Bank for International Settlements.
• January 2020: A report on Investors and the Blue Economy was published by Credit Suisse and Responsible Investor. The report discuss the impact of an investment on the marine environment, how this many affect portfolio performance and value and what needs to change for private capital to flow towards a sustainable use of the ocean.

Read these and other reports in our Digital Library on Sustainable Finance

Back to top

Join our network of members and partners! Find out how here.

Follow us on Social Media

>Twitter @SwissSustFin

>LinkedIn Swiss Sustainable Finance