Known as an important financial centre, particularly in private and institutional asset management, commodity trade finance, commercial and retail banking, as well as a hub for international organisations, Geneva can play a key role in collaboration and engagement, contributing to the growth and development of sustainable practices in the financial sector.

In 2019, a first week hosting several events and conferences spread across the city of Geneva was held under the name "Building Bridges Week", allowing the financial sector, the real economy and International Geneva to forge links for the benefit of sustainable development. As a founding member, Swiss Sustainable Finance has supported this initiative over the past five years. The need to address pressing sustainability issues in all their diversity continues to grow, as demonstrated by the upcoming 5th edition of Building Bridges, taking place from 9 to 12 December, with a diverse and rich offering of events in various formats, both physical and online.

Throughout the 5 years, Swiss Sustainable Finance has been present at this important gathering, launching key tools and frameworks with close network partners. This year will be no exception, as we plan to co-host a workshop on transition plans, launch the Swiss Platform for Impact Investing, a key initiative to promote impact investing and host the first solution stage on education.

We look forward to celebrating 5 years of Building Bridges and hope to see you at the event! We will be there!

> Visit our website for more about these and other SSF activities

Swiss News

• WWF Switzerland has published the third edition of the Swiss retail bank rating, evaluating the sustainability performance of 15 banks. The report concludes that progress has been made in recent years, but still sees plenty of potential to further incorporate climate and biodiversity into all business areas.
• The 2024 edition of the PACTA Climate Test conducted by FOEN and SIF and assessing the climate alignment of Swiss investments demonstrates that progress has been made since 2022. 60% of participants state they engage in credible stewardship for listed equity investments. Despite this, only a minority of all financial institutions and asset classes are yet aligned with the net-zero target.

European News

• Differentiated prudential treatment of fossil fuel-related stocks and bonds under the Solvency II framework was approved by the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority and publicly communicated on 7 November.
• According to a World Bank report on Poland’s climate and development progress, the country should significantly step up institutional investor interest in ESG, given the comparably low proportion of sustainable fund assets of only 1% (versus the EU average of 47.5%).

Market News

• The WWF Risk Filter Suite (including the Biodiversity Risk Filter and the Water Risk Filter) will be integrated into MSCI products, thereby leveraging MSCI geospatial data in a full launch in 2026.
• At the start of 2024 the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) took over the monitoring of companies’ progress on the TCFD disclosures from the Financial Stability Board (FSB). Now, according to their first annual review, less than 3% of companies reported in line with all 11 TCFD recommendations in 2023 (of 3’814 companies analysed).
• The TNFD has published a draft guidance on nature transition plans for corporates and financial institutions and a roadmap for further action around newly emerging nature-related reporting standards in Europe, China and elsewhere.
• ISO has published an ESG framework addressing companies and other organisations, which provides overarching principles, a coherent structure and guidance in implementing ESG practices. The framework is intended to be flexible so it can be applicable to organizations of all sizes, sectors and jurisdictions, while reflecting changes in emphasis that can emerge within ESG more widely.
• SSVK-ASIR has added HDC Hyundai Development Co. on the list of recommended exclusions following an unsuccessful engagement dialogue process.

We are happy to welcome the following organisation as a new SSF member:

• Picard Angst (asset manager)

The full list of our members and network partners, now standing at 262, can be found here.  

• 26 November 2024, 18:00 – 19:00: SECA Event in Lugano - Integrating ESG Skills into Talent, Resilience, and Performance (more information)
• 11 December 2024, 17:00 – 18:30: Building Bridges Event - Credible climate transition plans across sectors (more information)
• 12 December 2024, 10:00 – 11:30: Building Bridges Event - Swiss National Partner launch event: Championing impact investing in Switzerland (more information)

• 12 November 2024, 10 vor 10, Wann ist eine Anlagestrategie Nachhaltig? (Featuring SSF CEO Sabine Döbeli), SRF
• 12 November 2024, Ethos gewinnt vier Kantonalbanken für den Aktionärsdialog, Tippingpoint
• 12 November 2024, Les «Ethos Engagement Services» convainquent toujours plus de banques cantonales, Allnews
• 7 November 2024, Wie ESG-Ratings nachhaltiges Investieren beeinflussen können, payoff

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