Environmental issues entered the international agenda in the early 1970s, but even prior to that, institutions based in the Geneva region have greatly contributed to develop the global environmental governance system. Since then, the Geneva region has hosted various historical meetings and negotiations, and welcomed new organizations focusing on environmental-related issues.
To date, most attention to ESG has been focused on the environmental performance of real estate, concentrating on energy transition and carbon emissions. However, there is a growing expectation that the social impact of real estate should be taken into account. The panelists will share their views on the social progress of residential property in different European countries.
Members of the Association of Swiss Asset and Wealth Management Banks and of the Association of Swiss Private Banks have defined 12 priorities in the field of sustainable finance that they actively pursue. This panel discussion aims to show how far implementation has already progressed and how the main hurdles could be overcome.
| The past three years have seen a pandemic, war in Europe, a surge in inflation, and a record for greenhouse gas emissions and concentrations. These overwhelming events reveal that the need for positive change is more acute than ever. And the Swiss financial sector is increasingly looking for sustainable solutions—from regulation to investing to financing—to speed up the positive trends that have been developing over the last decade. Together with Swiss Sustainable Finance (SSF), the Swiss Finance Institute (SFI) is holding a high-profile conference on 6 October 2022 in Zurich to examine the new challenges we face and to explore what solutions need to be developed and what actions need to be undertaken to achieve a more sustainable society. |
In this workshop, we try and help asset and wealth managers selecting the appropriate methodology to measure the alignment of their portfolio to net zero. We will review key leading methodologies identified as such by the Portfolio Alignment Team, formed by the UN Special Envoy for Climate and Finance, Mark Carney.
New regulatory regime both in the EU and Switzerland will be a turning point for how we invest in so-called sustainable financial stocks or financial products. During this workshop, we will hear from fund managers, impact investors, stock exchange owners, and regulators on how the new regulatory framework will impact sustainable marketplaces. We will discuss the latest developments in nonfinancial reporting (social and environmental) and think about what the future might look like for sustainable financial investors.
The financial potential of remittances is largely untapped due to their weak link with investments and entrepreneurship. The event will focus on channeling remittances into innovative crowdfunding and venture capital tools targeting startups and growing businesses in emerging markets. An interactive case study on a specific tool will be carried out.
Following global emergencies, the international community tends to revert to “business as usual,” rather than preparing for future disasters. How to lobby policymakers to not only focus on fighting fires, but instead to address their underlying causes. Our event offers to rethink how to innovate and reform within failing systems.
The ‘S’ in ESG covers many aspects, including human rights. It faces greater measurement challenges than the ‘E’ in ESG. Data on companies’ social performance is typically in short supply and not very robust. In this panel, we will discuss how banks currently address these challenges to advance Human Rights.
Investors are already seeing how water-related issues, exacerbated by climate change, are impacting the profitability of companies across industries and geographies. This panel of experts will explore why water risk and opportunity are still insufficiently addressed globally and how investors can influence how water is valued by corporations and drive the systemic transition to more sustainable water usage. Together we will explore how to allocate capital to those companies and projects developing the water solutions and innovations that are most urgently needed. Action oriented, the event will provide a platform to mobilize investors and asset owners around the Valuing Water Finance Initiative. This new global investor-led effort spearheaded by Ceres seeks to engage companies with a high water footprint to value and act on water as a financial risk and drive the necessary large-scale change to better protect water systems.
