Digital library on sustainable finance
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The Swiss Sustainable Investment Market Study 2020 sheds light on sustainable investment (SI) developments in Switzerland, with a total of 76 respondents, including many of the large asset managers and asset owners covered by the survey.
The total volume of sustainable investments reached CHF 1,163.3 billion by the end of 2019. This includes all reported sustainable investment funds, sustainable mandates and sustainable assets of asset owners. As a new feature, this year’s market study looks at common combinations of SI approaches prevalent in the market. This is particularly valuable, as it is a useful contribution to the growing political debate about the quality and impact of investments.
The market study also includes a comprehensive chapter on regulatory issues in Switzerland, the EU and globally.
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This publication, commissioned by the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment, lays out the methodological foundations for sustainable finance with a focus on water as an environmental resource. The guide focuses on how investors can engage with investees to achieve SDG 6 through basin water security.
While water-related risk is being recognised by many investors, not many take into account the effects of their investment and financing decisions on water quantity and quality in the longer term or engage actively with investee companies. Investors have the possibility to play an active role in contributing to solving the water crisis at scale. Addressing water risks is crucial as it helps mitigate biodiversity and climate risks and achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement as well as the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).
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An Investor Guide on Basin Water Security Engagement: Aligning with SDG 6 - EN
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The 10th edition of the Annual Impact Investor Survey provides a comprehensive overview of the impact investing market. The survey covers 294 impact investors who collectively manage USD 404 bn of impact investing assets, thus representing a significant part of the global impact investing market (valued at about USD 715 bn).
The report looks at respondents’ investment activity during 2019 and their plans for 2020, market developments over the past decade, and challenges the market is facing going forward. Respondents also shared insights on how COVID-19 might affect their activities.
The report also includes:
- An updated market sizing analysis, which estimates the current market size at USD 715 billion;
- Trends analysis of 79 repeat Survey respondents, to show changes and trends over time;
- Insights on topics such as climate investing, catalytic capital, the evolution of impact measurement and management practices, and policy developments over the past decade.
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This article asks how sustainable investing contributes to societal goals, conducting a literature review on investor impact—that is, the change investors trigger in companies’ environmental and social impact.
The authors distinguish three impact mechanisms: shareholder engagement, capital allocation, and indirect impacts, concluding that the impact of shareholder engagement is well supported in the literature, the impact of capital allocation only partially, and indirect impacts lack empirical support. The results suggest that investors who seek impact should pursue shareholder engagement throughout their portfolio, allocate capital to sustainable companies whose growth is limited by external financing conditions, and screen out companies based on the absence of specific environmental, social, and governance practices that can be adopted at reasonable costs. For rating agencies, the article outlines steps to develop investor impact metrics. For policy makers, it highlight that sustainable investing helps diffuse good business practices, but is unlikely to drive a deeper transformation without additional policy measures.
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Can Sustainable Investing Save the World? Reviewing the Mechanisms of Investor Impact - EN
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This document is a result of an initiative of the UN Environment Programme’s Principles for Sustainable Insurance to develop the first global guide to manage ESG risks in risk assessment and insurance underwriting.
The focus of this report is on non-life insurance business—also known as property and casualty insurance business.
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Managing environmental, social and governance risks in non-life insurance business - EN
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The NGFS has developed Climate Scenarios (the scenarios) to provide a common starting point for analysing climate risks to the economy and financial system. While developed primarily for use by central banks and supervisors they may also be useful to the broader financial, academic and corporate communities. This document provides an overview of the key transition risks, physical risks and economic impact of climate change.
In addition to this document, the NGFS also published a Guide to climate scenario analysis.
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NGFS Climate Scenarios for central banks and supervisors - EN
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The Guide to climate scenario analysis for central banks and supervisors provides practical advice on using scenario analysis to assess climate risks to the economy and the financial system. It is based on the initial experiences of NGFS members and observers and also aims to advance the discussion on the methodologies used.
Along with this Guide, the NGFS has also published a set of Climate Scenarios.
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Guide to climate scenario analysis for central banks and supervisors - EN
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The Swiss Funds & Asset Management Association (SFAMA) and Swiss Sustainable Finance (SSF) drew up detailed recommendations for the Swiss asset management industry on how to implement sustainable practices effectively. The recommendations and associated core messages are intended to actively help asset managers incorporate sustainability criteria into their investment processes.
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Sustainable Asset Management: Key Messages and Recommendations of SFAMA and SSF - DE
Sustainable Asset Management: Key Messages and Recommendations of SFAMA and SSF - FR
Sustainable Asset Management: Key Messages and Recommendations of SFAMA and SSF - EN
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This is the first time that the Swiss insurance industry has reported on its commitment to sustainability in a joint report. The SIA Sustainability Report covers the areas of investment, operational ecology and underwriting. It is based on data supplied by 32 member companies of the Swiss Insurance Association (SIA). With their investments, these companies account for 94 per cent of all investment made by private insurers (a total of CHF 582 billion as at 31 December 2018).
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SIA 2019 Sustainability Report - DE
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In June 2020, the Swiss Bankers Association (SBA) published a new set of guidelines on the integration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria into the investment advisory process.
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The brochure "Sustainable finance in Switzerland: from pioneer to premier international hub" published by the Swiss Bankers Association (SBA) provides policymakers and the general public with a comprehensive overview of current industry initiatives. The brochure also sets out concrete action areas where the framework conditions could be effectively improved.
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Sustainable Finance in Switzerland: from pioneer to a premier international hub - DE
Sustainable Finance in Switzerland: from pioneer to a premier international hub - FR
Sustainable Finance in Switzerland: from pioneer to a premier international hub - EN
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This report studies hard-currency bonds issued by emerging-market financial institutions over a period of 10.5 years (from 2009 through the first half of 2019). It finds that 60 emerging-market countries host 804 financial institutions, including 398 banks, that are issuing hard-currency bonds with a total of $648 billion in outstanding value as of June 2019. While relatively small compared to the global bond market ($107 trillion at the end of 2018), the segment is sufficiently large and diversified to deploy specific investment strategies. Since these financial-sector bond issuers tend to be among the most sophisticated in emerging markets, many of them are well-equipped to become first-time green bond issuers as their next steps.
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In June 2020, the Swiss Federal Council adopted a report and guidelines on sustainability in the Swiss financial sector. The report provides a first overview of international developments and Switzerland's position. It examines thirteen measures for sustainability in the financial sector in detail, some of which are also being discussed in the EU, and focuses on environmental aspects. The measures primarily concern transparency, investment activities, training and further education, and risks.
The report was prepared by a cross-departmental working group headed by the State Secretariat for International Finance (SIF), in close cooperation with the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) and other authorities such as the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) and the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO).
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This report aims to enable a better understanding of the business sectors and financial mechanisms at risk from the loss of biodiversity and lay the groundwork for biodiversity-related target-setting by the finance sector. It sets out an initial approach to enable financial institutions to set evidence-based biodiversity targets aligned with international policy developments.
The approach detailed in this report combines information from scientific literature and key authoritative sources, as well as the knowledge base on the impacts and dependencies of sectors on nature developed for the ENCORE tool, to identify a set of priority sectors for biodiversity-related target setting
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Beyond 'Business as Usual': Biodiversity Targets and Finance - FR
Beyond 'Business as Usual': Biodiversity Targets and Finance - EN
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In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, this paper was developed to support thinking on how to respond to the pandemic from a sustainable finance perspective. Specifically, it has two objectives:
- Set out what we know about the ways in which the many different components of our sustainable financial system – market actors, policymakers, regulators, and international institutions – are thinking, planning and reacting to the pandemic, with a focus on implications for sustainable finance markets.
- Set out a framework for assessing what levers may exist to strengthen the role of the financial system in supporting a low-carbon recovery, and the prospective roles for different communities of actors.
This paper is not intended to be comprehensive across the wide range of sustainability-related implications of the pandemic. For instance, it does not attempt to forecast how macroeconomic trends may impact the trajectory of the low-carbon transition. Rather, this paper is a preparatory effort to inspire thinking by different communities of actors on response strategies over the coming months and help identify where collaboration will be required.
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Implications of the COVID-19 Pandemic for Global Sustainable Finance - EN
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Dieser Bericht von Greenpeace zeigt auf, dass beide Schweizer Grossbanken trotz Bekenntnisse zum Klimaschutz auch vier Jahre nach Abschluss des Übereinkommens von Paris noch Milliardenbeträge ins Geschäft mit fossilen Energien stecken. Der Bericht stützt sich auf Auswertungen der durch die Banken ermöglichten Fremdfinanzierungen bei 101 Unternehmen aus dem Kohle-, Öl- und Gassektor. Die Analyse der finanzierten Emission zeigt, dass die beiden Banken im Zeitraum von 2016 bis 2019 jedes Jahr mehr CO2-Emissionen ermöglicht, als innerhalb der Schweiz ausgestossen wurden.
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Klimaschädliche Geschäfte. Finanzierte CO2 -Emissionen von UBS und CS von 2016 bis 2019. - DE
Klimaschädliche Geschäfte. Finanzierte CO2 -Emissionen von UBS und CS von 2016 bis 2019. - EN
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Dieser Bericht kommt zum Schluss, dass eine praktikable und offen zugängliche ESG (Environment, Social, Governance)-Bewertungsplattform für KMUs helfen könnte, die gegenwärtigen Nachteile auf effektive Weise anzugehen. Es braucht aber auch stärkere Anreize aus dem Finanzsektor um KMUs dazu zu bewegen ihre Nachhaltigkeitsleistung in transparenter und unabhängiger Weise bewerten und vergleichen zu lassen.
Nur wenn KMU einen konkreten Nutzen aus dem zusätzlichen Aufwand ziehen können, wird es für sie interessant ihre ESG Leistung zu messen und kontinuierlich zu verbessern. Als Standbein der Schweizer Wirtschaft muss dem Sektor daher mehr Beachtung geschenkt werden, wenn die Schweizer Klima- und Nachhaltigkeitsziele tatsächlich erreicht werden sollen.
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The report Fintech for Biodiversity looks at the ways digital biodiversity data could be deployed for use in financial decision-making. The report describes ways in which digital technologies in general, and fintech specifically could be harnessed to empower ordinary citizens to embrace biodiversity finance: whether as retail investors via security token offerings, or (in case of rainforest inhabitants and other relevant communities) as duly compensated monitors of biodiversity.
The report acknowledges certain barriers and suggests ways how the creative deployment of fintech might might help overcome these.
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Fintech for Biodiversity_FINAL_30.32020 (pdf 2.8 MB)Summary
In 2019, the OECD provided a preliminary overview on global biodiversity finance in the report Biodiversity: Finance and the Economic Business Case for Action. This follow-up report provides an in-depth analysis of global biodiversity finance flows. It combines and aggregates information across various datasets, covering public, private, domestic and international flows. The report also provides an overview of government support potentially harmful to biodiversity, and offers recommendations for improving the assessment, tracking and reporting of biodiversity finance.
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A Comprehensive Overview of Global Biodiversity Finance - FR
A Comprehensive Overview of Global Biodiversity Finance - EN
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This report analyses the Swiss National Bank's (SNB) climate risk management policy and comes to the conclusion that the SNB has not adequately assessed the colossal and potentially irreversible systemic risk that climate change poses to the Swiss financial system and the economy as a whole.
Drawing on the steps taken by European central banks in acknowledging the enormous economic and financial impacts of global warming that have already begun, the report makes recommendations for the SNB to drop its wait-and-see attitude, to break with the passive management of its portfolio and to adopt, as soon as possible and in coordination with politicians, a vision and a strategy to flatten the climate risks curve as soon as possible.
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The SNB misleads Switzerland’s financial centre on climate change - DE
The SNB misleads Switzerland’s financial centre on climate change - FR
The SNB misleads Switzerland’s financial centre on climate change - EN
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Diese Studie der SMI Expanded Unternehmen geht der Frage nach, wie die Nachhaltigkeitsberichterstattung in den grössten börsenkotierten Schweizer Unternehmen bereits verankert und ausgestaltet ist. Sie gibt erste Hinweise darauf, ob und wie das Thema in Zusammenhang mit der gegenwärtigen Covid-19-Krise an Bedeutung gewinnen oder verlieren wird. Dabei wurde Folgendes festgestellt:
- Rund 70% der grössten börsenkotierten Schweizer Firmen rapportieren nach den GRI-Richtlinien.
- Rund ein Drittel der Firmen hat laut Angaben im Bericht ihre Anstrengungen in den letzten fünf Jahren signifikant erhöht.
- 15 der Firmen bekennen sich in ihrem Bericht klar zu den Pariser Klimazielen und richten ihre Strategie danach aus.
- Schwächen bestehen im Bereich der Wesentlichkeitsanalysen und der Integration von ESG-Themen in die zentralen Prozesse.
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The Green Bond Treasurer Survey 2020 interviewed 86 treasurers from 34 countries to identify core benefits and challenges of issuing green bonds and provides guidance to potential newcomers into green financial markets. The survey explores the end-to-end process of issuing a green bond and solicited treasurer's views on integrated sustainability and the potential to enhance growth and scale of the market.
Headline findings include
- 98% of respondents said that their green bond attracted new investors
- 91% of respondents said a green bond facilitated more engagement with investors
- 88% of respondents said they planned to issue more green bonds
- 84% of the green bonds in the sample, are listed on at least one stock exchange
- 70% of respondents said the demand for their green bond was higher
- 48% responded that the cost of funding green bonds was similar to that of vanilla equivalents
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This report summarises the main results of a stocktake conducted by the Basel Committee of its members' initiatives on climate-related financial risks. The survey finds that:
- the majority of Basel Committee members consider it appropriate to address climate-related financial risks within their existing regulatory and supervisory frameworks;
- an overwhelmingly large share of members have conducted research related to the measurement of climate-related financial risks, while a number of members identified operational challenges in assessing climate-related financial risks such as data availability, methodological challenges, and difficulties in mapping of transmission channels. A majority of the members have raised risk awareness with banks through different channels, and many banks are disclosing information related to climate-related financial risks to some extent;
- approximately two-fifths of members have issued, or are in process of issuing, more principles-based guidance regarding climate-related financial risks. However, the majority of members have not factored, or have not yet considered factoring, the mitigation of such risks into the prudential capital framework.
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Climate-related financial risks: a survey on current initiatives - EN
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This white paper looks at the ESG views and practices of over 150 private equity general partners (GPs). The survey shows that GPs increasingly recognize the importance of Responsible Investment (RI)/ ESG in generating sustainable returns for investors. GPs who took tangible action on RI/ESG implementation were able to measurably improve operational performance and reduce business risks for their investments.
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Capital Dynamics_Embracing ESG as a Value Driver_ Survey of Private Equity GPs_Apr 2020 (pdf 6.5 MB)Summary
In this white paper, Bertelsmann Stiftung takes stock of where families and family offices stand when it comes to impact investing. They identify a number of both perceived and real barriers in the shift to impact investing and lay out specific recommendations for how families and family offices may overcome these barriers. Their recommendations include communication within the family setting, building one’s internal team, the development of a solid strategy, improved open communication with peers, selection of good supporting advisor(s), pooling of resources and management of transaction costs, and finally, the willingness to get started.
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White Paper_Increasing Family Office Engagement in Impact Investing_July2020 (pdf 581.3 kB)
