Digital library on sustainable finance
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The Tameo Private Asset Impact Fund Report 2023 report stems from a six-month survey conducted by Tameo, focusing on private asset impact funds (PAIFs) primarily investing in developing countries. The surveyed market encompasses investment vehicles managed by specialized impact fund managers with over 50% of their non-cash assets allocated to private debt or private equity instruments, primarily in emerging and frontier markets, with a development impact bias. Investment managers (IMs) headquartered in Switzerland manage 13% of total AuM (being the largest market share behind the USA).
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SUSREG Tracker is WWF´s interactive online assessment tool that evaluates progress on the integration of environmental and social risks into central banking, financial regulation and supervision activities. The findings from the latest SUSREG Tracker show a significant increase of sustainable regulatory and supervisory measures by several central banks and financial supervisors with a strong focus on climate. 68% of high-income countries have not yet adopted considerable climate and environmental banking supervision policies.
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The SSF Spotlight report identifies sustainability-related challenges associated with derivatives, with a particular focus on three client-relevant aspects: market signal and exposure to underlying assets, associated ownership rights, and transparency in reporting. Developed in collaboration with an SSF Focus Group, the report provides concrete guidance on aligning derivative usage with sustainability objectives and enhancing transparency in sustainable investing
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Climate reporting by Swiss companies is not yet aligned with the TCFD recommendations. In this study, we assessed climate related reporting for the fiscal year 2022 from 40 non-financial publicly listed companies on the Swiss SIX stock exchange. Our research focused on the extent of alignment
of observed disclosures related to the 4 TCFD fundamental areas (Governance, Strategy, Risk Management, and Metrics and Targets). Results show that public disclosures are generally not well aligned with the TCFD recommendations. It’s important to note that our study is based on data up to
December 2022. Companies may be currently undertaking significant efforts in improving their public disclosures to adhere to the upcoming Swiss Ordinance obligations, which is not reflected in these findings.
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Thought_Leadership_Report_Climate_Reporting_in_Switzerland_November_2023 (pdf 7.2 MB)Summary
The European Sustainable Finance Action Plan marked its 5th anniversary in 2023. Since its publication in 2018, the Action Plan reshaped the European sustainable finance. It has also substantially impacted the European and global sustainable finance debate.
As this book goes to publication, the Action Plan’s four key regulations are now all in force. The sustainable finance market is also in the process of reaching a new level of maturity in tackling greenwashing. The new European regulatory architecture for sustainable finance is getting closer and closer to its conceptual completion.
The book offers an in-depth overview of this new emerging field of European law. It starts with a discussion of the purpose and underlying principles of the new European regulatory framework for sustainable finance, proceeds with an analysis of the four key regulations that have emerged out of the Action Plan’s legislative agenda and closes with a section on tackling greenwashing.
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Developed in collaboration with ZHAW School of Management and law, the new SSF Spotlight publication, titled “Sustainable Real Estate Investments: Insights for Direct Real Estate Investors” provides concrete guidance on how to align investment decisions with specific sustainability objectives and requirements, and how to navigate the diverse landscape of labels, benchmarks, and monitoring tools.
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Sustainable Real Estate Investments - DE
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The Asset Management Association Switzerland (AMAS) and Swiss Sustainable Finance (SSF) have published the Swiss Stewardship Code, which provides asset managers, asset owners and financial service providers with guidance to encourage the active exercising of shareholder rights by investors in Switzerland. Investor stewardship is fundamental for effective investment and promoting sustainable businesses.
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In this market overview, three main objectives are examined within the regulation that applies to Switzerland: improve transparency on sustainability characteristics of financial products, promote classification systems for financial products based on their sustainability characteristics and require the integration of client ESG preferences in advisory services. After an examination, three recommendations are made for improving Swiss frameworks on sustainability-related disclosures of financial market participants.
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Sustainable Finance Regulation: A Comparative Analysis for Switzerland - EN
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A new report, from WWF and Deloitte Switzerland, offers a first comprehensive insight into the impact of insurance companies’ underwriting business on climate change and biodiversity loss. Insurance companies have several possibilities to reduce their negative environmental impact and to become catalysts for a green, fast and fair transition. In this report, WWF recommends 6 actions; alignment, engagement, promotion of green choices among clients, eliminate harmful policies, exclusion and fossil fuel phase-out.
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The long awaited Taskforce for Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) Recommendations include general disclosure recommendations across four pillars of governance, strategy, risk and impact managament and matrics and targets.
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Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) Recommendations - EN
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This document provides additional guidance for financial institutions to apply the TNFD Recommendations. The guidance applies to banks, insurance companies, asset managers and owners, and development finance institutions. Examples of different ways biodiversity and nature is currently already being disclosed by FIs alongside recommendations about how the TNFD can be used now by FIs despite data limitation.
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The Blue Economy encompasses economic activities that rely or impact on the use of coastal and marine resources. Like the broader concept of the Green Economy, of which the Blue Economy forms a part, it advocates sustainable use of these resources to minimize negative impacts on the marine environment. Investing in the Sustainable Blue Economy (SBE) recognizes the criticality of the ocean and its resources, and the increasing threats to the marine environment from climate change, overexploitation, and marine pollution. This voluntary guidance aims to provide to provide issuers with guidance on the key components involved in launching a credible “blue bond,” to aid investors by promoting availability of information to evaluate the environmental impact of their
“blue bond” investments, and to assist underwriters by offering vital steps that will facilitate transactions that preserve the integrity of the market.
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Bonds to Finance the Sustainable Blue Economy: A Practitioner's Guide - EN
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With this publication, PPCmetrics AG is publishing the “Pension Fund Yearbook” (previously “Analysis of the Annual Reports of Pension Funds”) for the ninth time. The study systematically analyzes structural data from Swiss pension funds. The study is based on a broad and representative peer group of 299 pension funds with cumulative pension assets of around CHF 727 billion and around 3.7 million insured people. The data collection by PPCmetrics was carried out for the first time in 2008, so a data history of 15 years is available for the analysis.
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Pension Fund Yearbook 2023 - DE
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This document contains the beta version of an NGFS Framework for nature-related financial risks
(the “Framework”). The Framework seeks to create a common science-based understanding of,
and language for, these nature-related financial risks among NGFS members. The aim is to provide greater clarity on the meaning of key concepts and the way these interrelate. It also contains a principle-based risk assessment framework to help operationalise that conceptual understanding.
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This guide features detailed insights into reporting on the ISSB and ESRD regulation. The purpose of this Guidance is to help CFOs and their teams prepare to implement the new sustainability reporting requirements to inform strategic decision-making on corporate sustainability performance and respond to requests from investors, banks and regulators.
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In this landmark report from the Taskforce on Nature Markets, an Initiative of Nature Finance, seven ambitious recommendations for policy makers, market actors and citizens are put forward to develop better and more sustainable markets. These include aligning economic and financial architecture with an equitable, global nature economy, policy alignment of central banks and supervisors, aligning public finance with the needs of an equitable, global nature economy and addressing harmful impacts of nature crimes.
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Making Nature Markets Work: Shaping Global Nature Economy in the 21st Century - EN
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In accordance with the Swiss Code of Obligations and the Ordinance on Reporting on Climate Matters, many financial services providers are now obligated to report on climate risks for the first time, starting in the financial year 2024. The recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) form the cornerstone of this reporting. In this guide, SSF outlines how climate reporting can be implemented effectively, providing a foundation for forward-looking strategic decision-making.
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TCFD Disclosure – Guidance and Best Practice in the Swiss Context - EN
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The magazine report provides insights what the future of wealth management holds, with inputs from 14 global industry leaders and opinion setters. The reader lerans about the key structural drivers facing the wealth industry and the opportunities and challenges that emerge because of these.
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Future of Finance-2023 (pdf 6.1 MB)Summary
The recent increased visibility of biodiversity in national and international policy is also reflected in market trends, such as an increased expansion of the carbon credits market. This paper by Nature Finance and carbone 4 looks at recent trends in carbon credits, identifies critical design challenges and sets out an initial Roadmap to address such challenges and provides insights and experiences to collectively chart this rapidly evolving market.
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In this joint white paper by the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) and the Climate Bond Initiative (CBI) a blueprint for the development of a climate resilience classification framework is proposed. Seven themes for resilient investments and the criteria for identifying and screening these investments by sector are proposed.
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Designing a Climate Resilience Classification Framework - EN
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This guidance from the Institutional Investor Group on Climate Change (IIGCC) aims to standardize climate bonds and associated engagement with companies using a next step approach explained for both asset owners and asset managers.
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In the 2023 edition of the SSF Sustainable Investment Market Study the total volume of sustainability-related investments in Switzerland fell by 19 percent, to CHF 1,610 billion, in 2022. The decline is mainly attributable to the negative market performance (around 18 percent) and tighter definitions of sustainability-related investments by respondents. Thematic investments and impact investments have defied the market dynamics and are showing strong growth.
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This white paper, based on a collaborative roundtable with Pelt8, CelciusPro and 15 organisations from the public and private sector, discusses the challenges and best practices of climate reporting. It aims to be a starting point for companies navigating climate reporting and sustainability reporting challenges
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This briefing provides banks a first overview of how the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) applies to their industry, through the axes of risk, opportunities, dependencies and impacts. It aims to support the industry in managing associated risks, capturing relevant opportunities and preparing for anticipated policy developments that will yield new compliance and disclosure requirements.
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This report presents the results of an extensive global pilot testing led by UNEP FI with the private finance sector to test the draft risk management and disclosure framework from the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD).
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Unboxing Nature-related Risks: Insights from the UNEP FI-led TNFD Piloting Programme - EN