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SSF Newsletter November 2023
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Homes in transition
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Dear all
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As the cooler days of November arrive, many of us appreciate our warm homes. While fossil fuels are still the most common energy source, buildings need a transformative shift to renewable energy sources. In Switzerland, residential and commercial buildings contribute about a quarter of the country's carbon emissions due to carbon-intensive heating systems and poor energy efficiency in the building stock. With the approval of the Climate and Innovation Act on 18 June, 2023, Switzerland has set specific targets for the building sector to reduce overall emissions by 82% by 2040 and 100% by 2050.
Sustainable real estate is more than energy-efficient buildings or eco-friendly materials. It encompasses a holistic approach to construction, management, and community development that respects the environment while creating lasting value for investors. SSF has published its newest Spotlight report “Sustainable Real Estate Investments” to help investors start the transition of their building portfolios.
There are several other key developments this month covered in our newsletter, including the Federal Council's open consultation on its greenwashing position paper, the ranking of sustainability of financial centers and the new report on sustainable funds in Switzerland by Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts.
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Kind regards
Hendrik Kimmerle
Senior Project Manager
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SSF activities at a glance
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SSF Spotlight on Sustainable Real Estate Investments
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Developed in collaboration with ZHAW, the latest SSF Spotlight offers practical advice for aligning real estate investments with sustainability goals and navigating the landscape of labels, benchmarks, and monitoring tools. Read the report here.
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Register for Real Estate Webinar on 4 December
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Join the up-coming webinar on sustainable real estate investments on 4 December. The session will feature the co-authors of the Spotlight publication from SSF and ZHAW, alongside an industry expert from the financial industry and an academic perspective from University of Lausanne. Find more information and the registration here.
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Swiss Stewardship Code Event on 7 November
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At a joint AMAS/SSF event, the recently published Swiss Stewardship Code was presented and put into the Swiss context. See the event summary here.
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Asset Owner workshop on Real Estate
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Representatives of Swiss pension funds discussed practical challenges of sustainable real estate strategies at a workshop in Lausanne.
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Regulatory and market news
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Swiss News
- Based on its position paper on the prevention of greenwashing of 16 December 2022, the Federal Council announced on 25 October that the Federal Department of Finance (FDF) will submit a consultation draft on principle-based state regulation at ordinance level to the Federal Council by end of August 2024. If, however, the financial industry presents a self-regulation solution that implements the Federal Council's position effectively, the FDF will dispense with further regulatory efforts. See SSF position here.
International News
Market News
- A recent study by the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, demonstrated that in the number of sustainable funds licensed for distribution in Switzerland has risen by 15% in the last year, to 2155 sustainable funds.
- FTSE Russel published its 7th Annual Sustainable Investment Asset Owner survey 2023, demonstrating a slow down in terms of implementation for asset owners after five years of steady growth. Client demand was named as the top rationale for sustainable investment.
- The TNFD encourages early adopters of the TNFD Framework to begin making disclosures aligned with the 14 disclosure recommendations of the TNFD. While this is challenging, it is worth noting that 11 of these disclosures are those contained within the TCFD.
- Geneva ranked 3rd and Zurich ranked 4th as financial centres, according to the 12th edition of the Global Green Finance Index, which evaluates 94 financial centres from around the world.
- The Global Canopy, SEI – Stockholm Environment Institute and Zoological Society of London developed Forest IQ, a new data platform for financial institutions that combines alignment, best-in-class and other data around deforestation for more than 2000 major companies.
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New SSF members and network partners
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We are happy to welcome the following organisations as new SSF members:
The full list of our members and network partners, now standing at 249, can be found here.
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SSF and sustainable finance in the media
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LSFI Climate Measurement and Reporting Working Group Outcome Report
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This report is the result of the Luxembourg Sustainable Finance Initiative (LSFI) Working Group on Climate Measurement and Reporting and provides an overview of climate-related tools and methodologies that financial players could use to support its journey to net zero. The tools examined were Assessing Low Carbon Transition (ACT), Paris Agreement Capital Transition Assessment (PACTA), Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF), Science-Based Target Initiative (SBTi) and Transition Pathway Initiative (TPI).
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More >
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Kind Regards,
The SSF Team
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SWISS SUSTAINABLE FINANCE
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