The Swiss financial sector has a key role to play in accelerating the transition towards a more sustainable and climate-neutral world. Against this backdrop, Swiss Sustainable Finance (SSF) is launching an ambitious Roadmap with recommended actions for the Swiss financial services industry. It includes concrete measures targeted at various financial market players such as banks, asset managers, insurance companies and institutional investors.
The COP26 climate conference in Glasgow has made it clear there is still a long way to go to achieve a climate-neutral future. One positive development, at least, lies in the strong signals from the financial sector, which sees itself as part of the solution and is committed to making significant contributions towards a net-zero world. The Roadmap launched by SSF during the “Building Bridges Week” now sets out concrete measures to be taken by Swiss financial market players in order to accelerate the achievement of global climate goals and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
A review of developments to date shows the Swiss financial centre has already made progress in the area of sustainable finance. Now the task is to manage the next steps systematically and introduce effective measures on a wider scale. SSF has therefore formulated recommended actions for various financial market actors in four categories, assigned to different time frames: standard setting, transparency, innovation and dialogue & education. “The Roadmap puts forward a clear and pragmatic plan for a Swiss financial centre committed to addressing the topic of sustainable finance in a credible manner. In addition, it should be understood as the basis for a continuous dialogue with all relevant market players in the financial sector,” SSF President Patrick Odier comments on the launch of the Roadmap.
“As far as all players in the Swiss financial sector are concerned, we consider greater transparency regarding the sustainability performance of their portfolios to be an important prerequisite for optimising their holdings accordingly. Setting clear net-zero goals also puts a special focus on climate issues and satisfies the federal government’s latest requirements. Incorporating sustainability factors in lending practices and credit ratings are further concrete examples of recommended actions,” comments Sabine Döbeli, CEO of SSF. Although some pioneers have already implemented appropriate measures, broader application across the entire market is now needed. This is the only way to ensure that Switzerland continues to play a leading role in future as a centre of excellence for sustainable finance.
The full Roadmap published by Swiss Sustainable Finance (SSF) is available here.
Contact:
Sabine Döbeli, CEO Swiss Sustainable Finance
+41 44 515 60 52
sabine.doebeli@sustainablefinance.ch
www.sustainablefinance.ch
Additional information:
> The Transition to a Sustainable Future: A Roadmap for key Swiss Financial Market Players (PDF file)
> Roadmap Website with a summary of all recommended actions
> Newsletter SSF monthly
> Twitter @SwissSustFin
> LinkedIn Swiss Sustainable Finance
Swiss Sustainable Finance (SSF) strengthens the position of Switzerland in the global marketplace for
sustainable finance by informing, educating and catalysing growth. The association, founded in 2014, has
representative offices in Zurich, Geneva and Lugano. Currently SSF unites over190
members and network partners from financial service providers, investors, universities and business schools,
public-sector entities and other interested organisations. An overview of Swiss Sustainable Finance’s current
members and network partners can be found here.
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