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SSF Newsletter February 2022
 
The Greenwashing Trap
 
Dear all
 

The debate about what is a sustainable investment and what is not has peaked with the European Commission now declaring nuclear and gas as taxonomy-compliant and therewith green. With this decision, the authority that created the taxonomy to prevent “greenwashing” is now facing the exact same allegation – not just by NGOs, but also by the Platform on Sustainable Finance that acts as the scientific advisor to the Commission. Although the decision has yet to be confirmed by the EU Member states and the European Parliament, it is pretty certain that it will go through. Does this mean, all sustainable funds will soon contain nuclear and gas? This is quite unlikely, seeing that many fund managers already announced that they will not include these technologies into their sustainable strategies. Yet, if political leaders in EU countries – and even beyond – are now less inclined to create frameworks boosting climate-friendly technologies, investors will have less choice of truly green companies (see also my comments in a recent interview with SRF). In Switzerland, we have yet to demonstrate that we find another, more pragmatic but credible way to define sustainable investments. The respective work on a federal level has started and SSF is happy to contribute its expert know-how to it.

For SSF, 2022 has started with an exciting key milestone: we now have over 200 members and network partners. We look forward to seeing representatives of all of them at one of our next events, be it virtually or soon in person again.

 

Kind regards,

Sabine Döbeli

SSF CEO

 
 
 
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Newsletter content
 

SSF activities at a glance

Regulatory and market news

New members and network partners

SSF and sustainable finance in the media

New reports & studies

 
 
 
 
SSF activities at a glance
 
 
SSF has over 200 members
 
 
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Since starting in 2014 with 64 members and network partners, SSF has grown each year and now numbers 204 members and network partners. SSF is proud to build on such a broad members base.

 
 
 
SSF Market Study Questionnaires have been sent out
 

SSF has sent out its Questionnaire for the Market Study 2022 to Asset Owners and Asset Managers. We encourage all of you who manage assets in Switzerland to contribute. Let us know, if you are interested. The study will be published on 9 June 2022 for the 5th consecutive year.

 
 
 
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SAQ collaborates with SSF to improve sustainable finance education for relationship managers
 
 
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SSF supported the Swiss Association for Quality (SAQ) to add sustainability elements to the educational requirements for various client facing profiles in the financial industry. SAQ is the leading Swiss certification organisation and published “Bodies of Knowledge” for such professions. Read the press release here.

 
 
 
SSF CEO, Sabine Döbeli mentioned in Women to Watch in Finance 2022
 
 
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The SSF CEO, Sabine Döbeli, has been named one of the eight Swiss Finance’s Women to Watch in 2022. Her profile on this list highlights her commitment to the topic of sustainable finance and the over 25 years of experience she has in the field.

 
 
 

> Read more about these and other SSF activities

 
 
 
 
Regulatory and market news
 
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Swiss News

  • On 17 December, the Swiss Federal Council opened a consultation to revise the CO2 Act, which aims to extend the current CO2 Law enacted by the Swiss Parliament, into the years 2025 and 2030. Read the full press release here in German, French or Italian.

EU News

International News

Market trends

  • Owning the Future: A Review of European Asset Owners’ Net Zero Targets was published by WWF, highlighting the positive and negative trends observed in such commitments. These include that many demonstrate a concerted ambition for targets to be reached by 2030 or even before, but also that big changes such as “phasing out” coal were missed.
  • The World Economic Forum (WEF) published their Global Risk Report 2022, which shares the results of the latest Global Risk Perception Survey and analyses key risks emerging from economic, societal, environmental and technological arenas, including a disorderly climate transition, economic recovery from Covid-19, cyber threats and global trends of migration.
 
 
 
New members and network partners
 
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We are happy to welcome the following organisation as new SSF member: 

The full list of our members and network partners, now standing at 204, can be found here.

 
 
 
Upcoming Events
 
 
  • 24 February 2022, MiFID II Member Webinar, members can contact us for further information
  • Save the Date: 16 March 2022, Online, SSF workshop for institutional asset owners: Climate commitments and their practical implications
  • Save the Date: 9 June 2022, Zürich, launch of Swiss Sustainable Investment Market Study 2022
  • Save the Date: 29 June 2022, Bern, SSF Annual Event
 
 
 
SSF and sustainable finance in the media
 
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Visit our website for more articles.

 

 
 
 
New studies & reports
 
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Inaugural 2025 Target Setting Protocol: UN-Convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance monitoring reporting and verification track
 

The Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance has published new rules on how investors should handle climate targets and allocate capital towards decarbonisation. The report also recommends a 16-29% reduction in asset class-level emissions by 2025 and the inclusion of Scope 3 emissions in net-zero considerations.

More >
 
 
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Social Transformation Baseline Assessment 2022: Are companies contributing to systems transformations that leave no one behind?
 

In this new study by the World Benchmarking Alliance, 1000 companies from around the world, including 15 Swiss companies, are evaluated based on social aspects of their business including human rights, decent work and ethical conduct. Only 1% of these companies are adequately demonstrating socially responsible business conduct.

More >
 
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Managing Peak Oil: Why rising oil prices could create a stranded asset trap as the energy transition accelerates
 

The demand for oil is provoking significantly increased investment into new oil, however, this goes against global production reductions required to meet “well below 2°C” scenarios of the Paris Agreement. The result could be short-term signals resulting in risky over-investment and impacted shareholder value. The extent of the risks and financial loss is explored via various scenarios in this report.

More >
 
 
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Forest 500 Annual Report 2022
 

Following the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forest and Land Use, a commitment signed by 141 countries, including Switzerland, this report by Forest 500 provides evidence that many companies are ignoring the issue of deforestation and are not prepared for future regulatory changes. Forest 500 tracks policies and performance of the financial sector linked to deforestation in supply chains and investment.

More >
 

> Find these and other reports in our Digital Library on Sustainable Finance

 
 
 

Kind Regards,

SSF Team

 
 
 

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