Sustainable Finance: The guidelines of the Swiss economy

For Switzerland as an international financial and business centre, sustainable finance offers a great opportunity to develop into a leading location. © iStock

17.02.2023

As a leading global business and financial centre, Switzerland has great leverage to contribute to the global sustainability transition through sustainable financing. At the same time, it can also benefit greatly from this.

 

To ensure that sustainable finance is a success for Switzerland as a business and climate location, economiesuisse has drawn up six overarching guidelines in cooperation with representatives of the real and financial economy.

 

According to a survey by Swiss Sustainable Finance (SSF), the volume of sustainable investments grew again by about 30 per cent year-on-year to more than 1.9 trillion Swiss francs in 2021. At the sustainable fund level, the volume rose to about 800 billion Swiss francs and now accounts for 53 per cent of the entire Swiss fund market. Almost half of respondents also stated that sustainable investments now account for more than 90 per cent of their assets under management.

 

Not only the financial sector

Although sustainable finance can only complement adequate framework conditions and sustainable behaviour in business and society, there is great potential to strengthen sustainable economic activity through specific financial flows and to raise the general awareness of the economy to bring about market-driven sustainability. At the same time, however, this process also poses significant challenges, such as the availability, quality and transparency of sustainable finance and investment opportunities, inflationary transaction costs, and administrative expenses related to monitoring, reporting and reviewing business activities according to tax requirements. Moreover, sustainable finance is often associated primarily with the financial sector, but the interactions and effects within the overall economy are also of great relevance. This is particularly true for Switzerland as a strong financial and real economy location.

 

More information:

The economy’s view: Business guidelines – financial flows and a sustainable economy sustainable finance | economiesuisse

The Swiss government’s view: Sustainable Finance (admin.ch)