The 30th UN Climate Change Conference (COP30) in Belém draws to a close, with global studies confirming the 1.5°C target is out of reach. For Switzerland, projections warn of 2.8°C warming, bringing more heatwaves, droughts, and floods. This year’s disasters in vulnerable mountain regions underscore the urgent need for action.

Against this backdrop, the second edition of our Swiss Sustainable Lending Market Study, conducted with the ZHAW School of Management and Law, reveals encouraging trends. A clear majority of banks (87%) have strengthened their institutional frameworks and formalized sustainability strategies for their lending business. For retail clients, sustainable lending advice is now well-established, with a focus on energy efficiency and property value preservation in the mortgage sector. However, the study also highlights a critical gap: advising SMEs and large companies is far less prevalent, with uniform standards to guide banks’ efforts still missing.

COP30 brought hopeful signals, like Denmark’s new ambitious climate goal and Brazil’s initiative Tropical Forest Forever Facility. Finance keeps playing a key role in accelerating the needed shift. Moving from risk management to seizing opportunities supports this trend. Globally, adaptation finance for measures such as early warning systems, can cut long-term costs. In Switzerland, banks can even better support homeowners, SMEs, and corporations in meeting net-zero targets, helping clients save costs and comply with regulations. We are more than motivated to support our members with valuable insights and adequate tools in their work. The path is clear: align finance with climate action.

Swiss News

• The new climate scenarios published by the Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology, MeteoSwiss, predict a significantly higher temperature increase in Switzerland than the global average. The scenarios are relevant for financial service providers for improved risk assessments for Swiss-based assets.

European News

• The leaked SFDR 2.0 draft suggests a simplification of the framework and a replacement of existing product categories. By integrating disclosures, removing certain obligations (such as investment-advice coverage), and introducing minimum exclusions and thresholds, the reform is expected to streamline implementation and reduce uncertainty for the industry.
• The European Banking Authority (EBA) published the new guidelines on environmental scenario analysis, complementing their guidelines on the management of ESG risks. These support a better management of both short-term, and medium- to long-term risks.

International News

• The 2026 PRI Reporting Framework streamlines reporting by removing asset-class modules and requiring all signatories to report against a single set of core indicators. This simplification is expected to reduce reporting burden while sharpening focus on priority areas such as human rights, nature-related risks, and collaborative stewardship.
• ISSB plans to produce a standard-setting process on nature-related risks and opportunities that will be based on disclosure recommendations, guidance, and metrics of the TNFD as well as the TNFD’s LEAP approach. Given that IFRS disclosure is facilitated for 733 organisations with USD 22 Trillion AuM, an inclusion of TNFD principles would significantly expand nature risk reporting.
• Following the recommendation of the Sustainable Impact Investment Advisory Group (SIIAG) the British government decided to establish the Office for Impact Investment. The office will work as a hub and collaborate with external stakeholders.

Market News

• Morningstar published its yearly Voice of the Asset Owner Survey. Climate transition readiness, energy management, and physical climate risk are the most frequently mentioned environmental factors. Furthermore, the share of asset owners viewing ESG considerations as fiduciary duty increased from 53% to 61% compared to last year’s study.
• MSCI has presented its new MSCI Biodiversity Index Screen, expanding the focus of sustainability from carbon to biodiversity. MSCI’s method quantifies nature’s interdependency, providing a new indicator to assess environmental risks.
• In anticipation of the currently on-going COP 30, TNFD produced a series of publications.We highlight two papers with relevance to the market: their Guidance on nature in transition providing guidelines for corporates' transition planning and the Discussion paper on nature-related opportunities featuring case studies of nature-related opportunities trying to foster market action.
• WWF has published a strategic framework examining the spreading insurance gap. The paper suggests facing destruction stemming from nature events with reduction of GHG emissions (prevention & mitigation). It focuses on nature-based solutions (adaption & resilience), and risk transfer solutions (residual risk transfer).
• The SIFEM Impact Report 2025 highlights strong progress in promoting sustainable economic growth across 72 emerging-market countries, supporting nearly 600,000 jobs and facilitating 8.7 million loans through partner institutions.

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

• Kapnest (Service Provider)

The full list of our members and network partners, now standing at 265 can be found here.  

• 24 – 26 November 2025: 14th United Nations Forum on Business and Human Rights, United Nations, Geneva
• 25 November 2025: «Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) – Experiences and Challenges» SSF Roundtable Discussion, SFF, online (SSF members only)
• 26 November 2025: Sustainable Investing Platform Meeting, SSF, Zurich (SSF members only)
• 1 December 2025: Bridging Finance and Sustainability from Geneva to Zurich, Building Bridges and SFG, Geneva
• 10 December 2025: Sustainable Investing - Here to Stay. Edition 3, Value creation from investment selection to active ownership, SSF, online
• 11 December 2025: Digesting the 30th Climate COP in Belém, Zurich Carbon Market Association, Zurich

Further events are listed on the SSF website.

• 25 October 2025, Strategische Verantwortung, Finanz und Wirtschaft (Print)

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