The past months have illustrated the dynamic movements around the globe attempting to stir sustainability action. Just this week, the EU published the first two regulations under its Action Plan on Financing Sustainable Growth and the Swiss Federal Council voiced its opinion on the topic. On a broader level, the Climate Conference in Madrid and the EU Green New Deal have shown how supranational entities are trying to tackle climate change challenges.

At the same time, technical hurdles and political obstacles do not make it easy for financial players to see a clear direction and navigate through the labyrinth of initiatives. This motivates us to keep looking out for relevant developments and provide guidance on concrete actions. We wish you a nice festive season and send our best wishes for a sustainable 2020.

Kind regards,

Sabine Döbeli

CEO Swiss Sustainable Finance

SSF activities at a glance

Regulatory and market news

New members joining SSF

Join these events

SSF and sustainable finance in the media

New reports & studies

SSF and PRI joint events in Zurich and Geneva

SSF event in Lugano on sustainable mobility

WWF & SSF joint workshop series

SSF expertise welcomed by different partners

As of 2020 Sabine will also be a member of the Advisory Committee on International Cooperation of the Swiss Government. Furthermore, SSF Deputy CEO Jean Laville is now part of the jury of the Swiss environmental award.

 SSF at the NZZ SIFF 2019

SSF releases member tools on EU regulation

SSF Asset Owner Workshop

On 12 November, SSF organized an asset owner workshop, bringing together 20 representatives from pension funds and insurances to discuss sustainability considerations in real-estate investments and the development of a sustainable real-estate investment policy. A summary is available for SSF members.

Read more about these and other SSF activities

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Swiss news

• The Swiss Federal Council once again highlighted opportunities for a sustainable Swiss financial centre. Following its meeting on 6 December, the Federal Council instructed the Federal Department of Finance (FDF) to examine whether there is a need for regulatory action with regards to transparency and risk analysis.
• A legal opinion mandated by the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) comes to the conclusion that material climate risks must already be taken into account based on current Swiss law. On a voluntary basis, climate impacts can also be measured and reported on the basis of investment and financing decisions.
• In the first FINMA risk monitor report, financial risks arising from climate change are identified as one of the most important long-term risks.
• A new study by Institute of Financial Services Zug (IFZ) from the Hochschule Luzern shows that the offering of sustainable mutual investment funds in Switzerland has again grown, now standing at 582 funds.

International initiatives

• The first two regulations deriving from the EU Action Plan on Sustainable Finance, the Regulation on Sustainability‐related Disclosures and the Benchmark Regulation, were published in the EU Official Journal this Monday. The Disclosure requirements will apply for investors as of March 2021.
• Last week, EU institutions agreed on a provisional framework for a taxonomy of environmentally sustainable activities, stipulating that all financial products offered in the EU, not just those labelled green, will have to disclose their alignment with the taxonomy. However, the deal was then rejected by Member States due to positions on nuclear energy and will have to be rediscussed.
• In view of the upcoming taxonomy, European banks have called for the EU to open public environmental databases given insufficient ESG data for a large part of the European business sector.
• A group of NGOs handed an open letter to the European Central Bank (ECB), asking it to accelerate efforts on climate change. Under the new president Christine Lagarde, the ECB is said to be including climate change considerations in the review of its strategy and has recently announced developing a framework which will allow it to test for climate-related transition risks.
• The Institute of International Finance (IIF) has released a report on a framework for simplified sustainable investment terminology, with three main categories proposed. The IIF is chaired by Larry Fink (CEO, Blackrock) and Axel Weber (President, UBS).
• The Bank of Japan has joined the Network for Greening Financial Systems (NGFS) and with USD 5 tn in reserves is one of the network’s largest members.
• Luxembourg's Finance Ministry has presented a draft law, which is designed to encourage the establishment of investment vehicles and funds that follow environmental, social responsibility and governance strategies.

Market trends

• The European Investment Bank (EIB) has become the world’s first public lender that commits to end the funding for coal, oil and gas, announcing mid-November that it will not consider new financing of unabated fossil fuels from the end of 2021.
• The Swedish Central Bank has sold its holdings in sovereign bonds issued by Canadian state Alberta, as well as Australian states Queensland and Western Australia due to their large climate footprint.
• MSCI has announced two series of provisional climate indexes, which it says fulfill the minimum standards of the EU’s recently defined climate benchmarks.
• Exxon Mobil's credit rating outlook was lowered by Moody’s, partially due to expected climate policies.
• The next edition of the Global Green Finance Center rating is due for March 2020. Take the opportunity to fill in the survey and rate financial centres on their strengths in green finance.

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We are happy to welcome the following organisations to our network:

The full list of our members and network partners, now standing at 139, can be found on the SSF website.

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Upcoming SSF events:

• 29 January 2020, SSF/ICMA joint conference on green bonds, Zurich
• 20 February 2020, WWF Switzerland & SSF joint breakfast event, 3^rd edition of event series to meet the academics, Geneva (for SSF members and partners only)
• SAVE THE DATE: 30 June 2020, SSF Members’ Assembly and Annual Conference, Bern

Other sustainable finance events:

• 17 January 2020, In Biodiversität investieren / Investir dans la biodiversité, Bern
• 11 March 2020,  Workshop on “Unternehmensverantwortung im Finanzsektor managen”, organised by the National Contact Point (NCP) of Switzerland for OECD Guidelines in partnership with Global Compact and SSF, Bern

Further events are currently being planned – more information on our website

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• 11 December 2019, Handelszeitung, Kein Geld mehr für Kohle: CS kommt auf den Geschmack des «Green New Deal»
• 2 December 2019, Rete Uno (RSI), L’economia si veste di verde
• 2 December 2019, Tagesanzeiger, «Die CO2-lastige Wirtschaft ist tot»
• 8 November 2019, SRF Tagesschau, Milliardärs-Report : Vermögen der Superreichen schrumpft
• 26 November 2019, Tagblatt, Sind ihre Portfolios wirklich nachhaltig? Die Banken treten beim Bund zum Klimatest an
• 25 November 2019, Allnews, Un mandat de lutte climatique pour les banques centrales?
• 21 November 2019, Investrends, Nachhaltige Fonds wachsen, konventionelle schrumpfen
• 15 November 2019, SRF Echo der Zeit, Klimawandel betrifft auch Finanzindustrie
• 15 November 2019, finews.ch, SNB Defends Neutral Asset Allocation
• 11 November 2019, SRF, SRF Börse vom 11.11.2019
• November Edition, Ticino Management, La Svizzera è sostenibile
• 22 October 2019, Le Temps, Semaine de la finance durable: un bon premier pas

Visit our website for more articles and regular updates

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• December 2019: As part of their Inevitable Policy Response programme, the PRI published findings on the effect of climate policy on equity markets, stating that when the expected abrupt climate policies occur, overall risks to financial markets would be significant and could force a net USD 1.6 trillion repricing.
• November 2019: The Center for Sustainable Finance and Private Wealth (CSP) at the University of Zurich conducted its third round of research on the sustainable investing (SI) capabilities of private banks, examining the sustainable investing vision, offering and services of 20 European banks.
• November 2019: SWIPRA presented the results of its 7^th Corporate Governance Study, finding that issuers and investors are often missing a basic mutual understanding of how corporate social responsibility impacts each other’s processes and decisions.
• November 2019: A report by climate-change think-tank InfluenceMap analysed the world’s 15 largest investment institutions and found that they are collectively deviating from the “Paris-aligned” allocations. The study also looked at engagement activities and found that only three big firms strongly and consistently engage with the companies they invest in.
• October 2019: A sustainable and responsible investment guide for central banks’ portfolio management was published by the NGFS, building on the results of an SRI portfolio management survey among NGFS members.
• October 2019: A new OECD publication provides guidance for banks and other financial institutions to implement the recommendations of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises in the context of their corporate lending and securities underwriting activities.
• October 2019: UNEP FI and the PRI released the final report on their “Fiduciary duty in the 21^st century” programme which sought to end the debate about whether fiduciary duty is a legitimate barrier to ESG incorporation and now clearly states that fiduciary duties require the incorporation of ESG issues.
• October 2019: The International Organisation of Pension Supervisors (IOPS) released Supervisory Guidelines on the Integration of ESG Factors in the Investment and Risk Management of Pension Funds.

Read these and other reports in our Digital Library on Sustainable Finance

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