SSF joins the global business and finance community in expressing great compassion for the people of Ukraine facing a humanitarian crisis as a result of the invasion of the country through the Russian regime (see the SSF statement). Economic sanctions by business and political leaders can hopefully contribute to ending this devastating conflict soon and to relieving the suffering of the many direct and indirect victims of the war. In light of these dramatic circumstances we see it as even more important to make sure capital contributes to the development of sustainable solutions. Some news items illustrate how the global finance community has reacted to the terrible war.

While the war leads to immediate suffering, the latest IPCC report about impacts, adaptation and vulnerability summarises the current and modelled impacts on climate, ecosystem and biodiversity and potential risks linked to them in the mid- to long-term. It illustrates that we should not delay a fundamental conversion of our energy system. The fact that non-democratic regimes are losing support when the world moves away from traditional energy sources, has taken on a tragic actuality.

Swiss News

• SwissBanking published a discussion paper on climate efficient mortgages and the role that Swiss banks can play in helping to propel the real estate sector, which accounts for almost one third of Switzerland’s greenhouse gas emissions, towards sustainability.
• In the newest report from foraus, the creation of a Swiss Green Investment Bank (SGIB) is explored, with the mandate to enthuse financial players to act and to aid the international climate finance efforts. The required characteristics of such a bank are explained and potential actions are explored.

EU News

• ESMA launches a call for evidence on climate risk stress testing for central counterparties (CCPs). It aims to support the EU’s efforts on improving the financial sector’s resilience by developing a climate risk stress test tailored to the specificities of the CCPs. Stakeholders have until the 21 April 2022 to comment.
• The European Council agreed on its general approach on the European Commission proposal for a corporate sustainability reporting directive (CSRD), which is planned to complement the European sustainable finance strategy.
• The EU Commission, along with PwC Luxembourg, are currently running three surveys to determine the current state of ESG benchmarks in Europe. All three of the surveys are open until 31 March 2022: Benchmark Administrators, Companies and Benchmark Users (investors).

International News

• Financial Centres for Sustainability (FC4S) published their fourth annual State of Play report, which collects input from 29 financial centers around the globe. The report highlights seven key insights on how financial centres are mobilizing their capital, resources, connectivity and expertise. SSF contributed this report by completing the questionnaire for Zurich as a financial centre.
• Switzerland, Japan and EU will hold the co-lead in a new working group within the IPSF (International Platform on Sustainable Finance). This group aims to explore the required elements needed for the feasible transition to a sustainable financial system by 2050.

War in Ukraine

• Listen to a number of Podcasts on the consequences of war in Ukraine from the financial and business perspective from the BBC World News’ Business Daily, including; Could Europe turn off Russian gas? (4 March 2022) and How the war in Ukraine is affecting food prices (7 March 2022)
• Several countries have decided to stay with coal before switching to renewables to avoid relying on gas, which has interesting implications for the energy transition.
• Various actors from around the globe have already reacted to the war, e.g. by pulling back from their activities in Russia, including:
  • SNB has sold Russian bonds and is examining further actions it can take to sanction Russia.
  • The investment committee of the PUBLICA federal pension fund has decided not to make any further purchases of securities in Russia and to withdraw from existing investments.
  • The Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global froze all Russian assets as of 27 February 2022 and plans to sell these as soon as possible.
  • As of 11 March, over 50 asset owners had already announced to divest from Russian assets, based on a list prepared by Responsible Investor
  • BP plans to offload its 19.75% stake in Russian state-owned oil firm Rosneft.
  • The PRI announced to de-list the asset management arm of VTB bank, a state-owned Russian bank subject to European sanctions.
  • EU prepares to end reliance on oil and gas well before 2030 and to begin by being less reliant on Russian oil by the end of this year.

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

• KPMG AG (Service Provider)
• The Swiss Lab for Sustainable Finance (Network Partner)

The full list of our members and network partners, now standing at 205, can be found here.

• Save the Date: 9 June 2022, Zurich, launch of Swiss Sustainable Investment Market Study 2022
• Save the Date: 29 June 2022, Bern, SSF Annual Event
• Save the Date: 3-6 October 2022, Geneva, Building Bridges Week 2023

• 15 March 2022, impactInvestor, Switzerland mobilises capital via SDG impact finance initiative
• 8 March 2022, NZZ, Anlage-Trend nachhaltige Finanzprodukte: Studie deckt Nachholbedarf bei Schweizern auf
• 2 March, 2022, NZZ, Und wenn Waffenhersteller doch nachhaltig sind?
• 24 February 2022, NZZ, Alte Gebäude stossen Unmengen an CO2 aus: Jetzt sollen neue Anreize bei der Hypothekenvergabe das Tempo der Sanierungen deutlich erhöhen
• 23 February 2022, NZZ, Schweizer Finanzplatz - nachhaltiges Handel muss sich auszahlen (Guest Article by Sabine Döbeli)

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