Having just recently joined SSF as Director Romandie, I am delighted to be part of the SSF team for the 10th anniversary year, and to witness SSF pass the 250-member mark. Romandie has been part of SSF’s growth journey since its inception in 2014, with my predecessor, Jean Laville, having contributed to making SSF what it is today. I am pleased to continue further develop the Romandie membership base, to contribute to SSF’s publications, and to act as a bridge between the Romandie sustainable finance members and the rest of the SSF community.

This month's newsletter spotlights three key stakeholders of SSF: Eurosif, with an interview with Aleksandra Palinska explaining Eurosif's mission and collaboration with SSF, and the Eurosif White Paper used in the upcoming 2024 Swiss Investment Market Study; the UN Global Compact Network, following the joint webinar on "Getting Started with the TNFD Framework"; and the University of Zurich for its new initiative in sustainable finance.

As sustainable finance becomes an important topic, the debate about how to further develop it intensifies. We encourage you to listen to Patrick Odier, President of SSF, explaining his view on the best way forward in  a podcast on "ESG considerations in the financial sector and recent resistance in America" produced by Ethos. Challenges, but also trends and developments in sustainable finance are not new. In this newsletter you are asked to use your seasoned experience and answer the Question of the Month: What do you see as the biggest development/trend in sustainable finance over the last ten years?

> Visit our website for more about these and other SSF activities

Let us know your opinion with our Question of the month!

In its 10^th year, SSF aims take stock of the developments in sustainable finance so far, before looking ahead. What do you see as the biggest development/trend in sustainable finance over the last ten years?

Swiss News

• The fourth PACTA climate test is currently being conducted by the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) and the State Secretariat for International Finance (SIF). All Swiss banks, asset managers, pension funds and insurers are invited to have their portfolios tested, on a voluntary and anonymous basis. Financial institutions can participate until 17 May 2024.
• Canton Zurich has made revisions of its regulations around tax exemption due to charitable status. The new regulations allow for appropriate renumeration of the Board of Trustees for charitable foundations. In addition, charitable activities abroad are generally measured according to the same standards as activities in Switzerland. These measures have the potential to attract more internationally active foundations to the Canton of Zurich. Read more from Swiss Foundations.

European News

• Both the member state representatives, as well as the European Parliament’s legal affairs committee have approved the text of the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), which will impose mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence and transition plan requirements on forms within scope of the regulation. The next step will be a vote in the European Parliament.
  

International News

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) published a draft regulation that will require large banks to report on their climate practices across governance, strategy, risk management and target-setting topics according to the same structure ass the TCFD and the ISSB. This reporting will come into effect for 2026 on 2025 data.

Market News

• Ethos Foundation criticises a recent AGM from Novartis, for putting its sustainability report up for a consultative vote, instead of a binding vote. This in the wake of ambiguously phrased new provisions in the Swiss Code of Obligations, meaning that a sustainability report (“non-financial matters”) should be put to vote at their AGMs. 
• According to a report by Carbon Tracker, 80% of auditors are disclosing little to no information about the assessment of climate impacts in their reports on the biggest emitters.
• The manner in which sustainability considerations and practices are incorporated into mergers and acquisitions in the financial services industry is explored for Switzerland and Liechtenstein in a recently published report by PwC.

We are happy to welcome the following organisations as new SSF members and partners:

• Green Fintech Network (Network Partner)
• ING Bank (Bank)
• Servisa Sammelstiftung (Collective Foundation)

The full list of our members and network partners, now standing at 252, can be found here.

• A new CAS module "Finance for the 2030 Goals" is available at ETH NADEL, starting on 3 June 2024. The course focuses on current development finance trends and challenges, including  the evolution of multilateral and bilateral finance, new types of development finance institutions, blended finance instruments, green/social bond markets, Chinese international finance, and more. The content is oriented toward people with a finance background and an interest in sustainability/impact.

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

• 24 April 2024: CFA ESG Conferences 2024 - Chasing Sustainability - Asset Owners' Paradox, Geneva
• 15 May 2024: CFA ESG Conferences 2024 - Chasing Sustainability - Asset Owners' Paradox, Zurich
• 20 June 2024: SSF Annual Conference 2024 and 10 Year Anniversary: The Next 10 Years, Bern

Further events are listed on the SSF website.

• 13 March, SSF gewinnt immer mehr Strahlkraft als gewichtige «grüne» Stimme auf dem Schweizer Finanzplatz, The Onliner
• 13 March, Switzerland sees uptick of pension funds decarbonising portfolios, IPE
• 8 March, Les entreprises suisses en retard sur la nouvelle règle de l’UE sur la durabilité, L’Agefi

Visit our website for more articles.