The third edition of Building Bridges from 3-5 October 2022 will again feature a high-level Summit, followed by over 65 community-led events, and a networking village. This international event aims to create synergies, develop new initiatives, and make finance a key catalyst for change.

The strength of Building Bridges lies in its diversity. The scale and complexity of transitioning to a sustainable financial system requires the contributions of all sectors of society – the finance industry, companies, start-ups, governments, the UN, NGOs, academic institutions, philanthropists, asset owners, and more. Participating in Building Bridges gives you the opportunity to connect with different actors and develop joint projects. SSF, as co-founder of Building Bridges will be hosting or co-hosting four events during the week (see below).

As sustainable finance is becoming more and more mainstream, the expectations from investors are growing and Building Bridges offers the opportunity to debate how the financial sector could and should contribute to address the social and environmental challenges we are facing. A culture of collaboration is a key prerequisite for real positive solutions. The Swiss blended finance initiative lead be the SECO (more information at the Blended Finance Event on 4 October) is illustrative of such a collaborative approach and has the potential to mobilize public and private capital to foster investments reducing poverty.

EU News

• Five Green NGOs (European Consumer Organisation  (BEUC), BirdLife, Environmental Coalition on Standards (ECOS), Transport & Environment and WWF) leave the EU Platform on Sustainable Finance. In their press releases, linked above, they state that the European Commission interfered politically in the group, and acted against evidence despite its legal obligation to follow science-based advice.
• The European Commission submitted a proposal to ban products made with forced labour on the EU market on 14 September. Once the European Parliament agrees, the proposal will apply 24 months after its entry into force.

International News

• The Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS) published their third version of climate scenarios, which is consistent with the scenarios assessed in the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for the first time, and two accompanying documents that aim to foster climate-related risks into the work of central banks, supervisors and other players.

We are happy to welcome the following organisation as new SSF members:  

• Banque Cantonal Jura (Bank)
• BFI Capital Group AG (Asset Manager)
• Celcius Pro (Service Provider)

The full list of our members and network partners, now standing at 217, can be found here.

• ZHAW is offering a new course "Weiterbildungskurs (WBK) Sustainability and Financing" for the first time in November on Sustainability and Financing. Learn more about this SAQ Corporate Banker CCoB (Certified Corporate Banker) and KMU Client Advisor course taking place in German on the ZHAW website.
• A new CAS in ESG and Sustainable Management at the HEG-FR, co-organised by CCRS, starts on 9 November 2022. Visit the course webpage for more information.
• The CAS in Sustainable Finance from the HEG is now available as an online course starting on 16 January 2023.

For more information on current educational programmes focusing on sustainability and finance, visit the SSF landing page on Evrlearn.

• 22 September, Vaduz, Liechtenstein Workshop of Sustainable Finance 2022
• 22 September, Geneva, Geneva Forum for Sustainable Investment (GFSI)
• 23 September, Lugano, ZHAW/SSF, Sustainability and Innovation for Finance and Commodity Trading
• 3-6 October 2022, Geneva,: Building Bridges Week 2022
  • SSF Events:
    • 4 October, 16:00-18:30 - Innovative Blended Finance Solutions for Impact
    • 5 October, 14:00-15:30 - Sustainable Investing 4.0: Big Data and AI for Maximal Impacts
    • 5 October, 14:00-15:30 - AMAS/SSF Joint Workshop: “From International Sustainability Standards to the Swiss Climate Scores”
    • 5 October, 16:00- 17:30 - TNFD as a Solution to Address Biodiversity Risks and Dependencies
• 6 October 2022, Zurich, SFI/SSF, Sustainable Finance Conference: How Finance Enables Positive Change
• 28 October 2022, Zurich, Nachhaltigkeitsregulierung: Zielkonflikte der Unternehmen und Rolle des Rechts
• 2 November 2022, Zurich, ZHAW/ SSF, Big Data and AI for Sustainable Investing – from Biodiversity Risks to Sustainable Gold
• SAVE THE DATE: 8 November 2022, Zurich, SSF Annual Sustainable Finance Education Forum
• SAVE THE DATE: 9 November 2022, Geneva, SSF Annual Sustainable Finance Education Forum

• 7 September 2022, In-depth: How Swiss pension funds engage on deforestation, IPE
• 6 September 2022, L’impôt anticipé freine le développement de la finance durable, Le Temps

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