Women as a catalyst. For this edition our special guest is Geneva finance minister, Nathalie Fontanet. A fierce proponent of gender equality and more diversity in the business and finance sector, the state councilor tells SFG how women can be the driving force towards a sustainable future. // Sustainable Finance Geneva (FR)

With the pandemic pushing more countries into debt distress, it’s now that investments linked to the SDGs are needed the most, says advisory firm The Ground_Up Project’s Steve Rocco in the third of a three-part series written in collaboration with the UN’s SDG Lab. // Geneva Solutions (EN)

In a move that may reshape policy-making towards sustainable development, the United Nations has adopted a new accounting framework that factors in nature’s contribution when measuring economic prosperity and human well-being. // UN (EN)

A report by the UN Environment Programme and the University of Oxford has revealed that only one fifth of Covid-related fiscal rescue or recovery spending announced by the world’s 50 largest economies will have a positive impact on the environment, and this is thanks to only a handful of high-income countries. // Bloomberg (EN)

Building Bridges is a new open and collaborative effort that aims to accelerate the transition to a more sustainable economy in Switzerland and abroad, promoting the finance community’s contribution to realising the 17 UN SDGs. The first forum took place in 2019 and we are looking forward to its next edition in 2021, Monday 29 November to Thursday 2 December. 
The initiative provides a forum for discussion and cooperation within a new Community of financial and other private sector actors and institutions, public authorities, international organisations, as well as not-for-profit and academic stakeholders. 

The Community aims to build momentum and mobilise action in the lead up to Building Bridges Week/Summit. Organisations that have events or initiatives that align to the Vision and Values of Building Bridges can apply to have them added to the Community web page and events calendar. We will also be running a monthly Community webinar to provide updates, talk about sustainable finance related events that are upcoming, and build a sense of camaraderie within our community. 

To subscribe to the newsletter and/or Community Call, please complete this form. And feel free to share within your organizations and networks to individuals that you think would be interested in joining. In addition, if you are running events or initiatives that meet the criteria, consider applying to add them to the Community!

Sandrine Salerno, Executive Director
A well-known figure of Geneva’s public policy ecosystem, Sandrine has 13 years of experience in government as a member of the Executive of the City of Geneva and the head of its Finance Department. She joined SFG as Executive Director in early 2021. SFG's vision to accelerate the transformation of the financial sector by setting ambitious environmental and social goals is perfectly in line with Sandrine's vision for the future of Geneva, an international city and the second largest financial centre in Switzerland.

Kali Taylor, Project Manager, Building Bridges
We’re proud to announce that Kali Taylor has joined our team to manage the 2021 Building Bridges Week. She has led the Geneva 2030 Ecosystem for the last four years and helped to create the SDG Lab at UN Geneva. During this time, the Lab has become a key player in facilitating collaboration and partnerships for the SDGs. She’s been involved with Building Bridges since day one and will be the best person to take this initiative to the next level.

On Women's Day on March 8, SFG announced the development of a new working group on gender balance in the workplace (Gender Lens Initiative Switzerland), whose main actions and discussions will focus on the (re)positioning of women and their vision in relation to current social and environmental issues, particularly in the field of finance.

The first webinar of the Gender Lens Initiative for Switzerland (GLIS) will take place on Wednesday 21 April from 3pm to 4pm CET, with the following agenda: global perspective on SDG5; legal definitions and industry standards; impact measurement; financial innovation examples; the GLIS 2021 agenda with regards to research, innovation and events; open Q&A. Event details will be made available shorty on the webpage and LinkedIn page of SFG, and will be sent by email to SFG members and GLIS partners. 
Speakers will include Tim Radjy, GLIS Chair; Jessica Espinoza representing the DFI association 2X; Vanina Farber from the IMD; and Christine Roddy from the AlphaMundi Foundation.  // Sustainable Finance Geneva

We wish a warm welcome to our new institutional partners Oddo Asset Management, the ISFB Institut Supérieur de Formation Bancaire and Horizon Capital AG.

The world’s leading financial hubs have an increasingly crucial role to play in mobilising communities behind the shared goal of advancing sustainable development. Geneva, as host and member of the international network of Financial Centres for Sustainability (FC4S) is no exception, says senior adviser Mark Halle. In this piece, he explains how the network was established and Geneva's role in the global transition to sustainable finance. // Sustainable Finance Geneva (EN)

April 26th - 30th 2021| RI Switzerland 2021
What do the latest ESG regulatory developments and thematic trends mean for the Swiss financial sector? What practical steps can Swiss investors take to prepare and align themselves to the Paris Agreement, incoming SFDR and green taxonomy, as well as to address Human Rights? 
RI Switzerland 2021, a free online event brings together Swiss regulators, investors, asset managers and service providers to discuss #ESG topics specific to Switzerland. More info here.

4 May 2021 | UNIGE Webinar: human rights in the finance industry 
Sustainability conversations in the finance industry have mainly been focused on the environmental dimension of ‘ESG’, with much less attention being paid to the social dimension, which includes human rights. Yet, making human rights an integral part of sustainable investing strategies is vital for investors seeking to comprehensively assess risks and opportunities. The Geneva Center for Business and Human Rights (UNIGE) will share research findings and open the floor to conversation, along with experts and practioners to discuss current industry practices, challenges, and the way forward. More info on the SFG website soon. 

7-11 JUNE 2021 | Sustainable Finance Week, Guernsey 
In the run up to COP 26 in Glasgow, Guernsey will be holding their annual Sustainable Finance Week, co-hosted with the UN Financial Centres for Sustainability (UN FC4S). Confirmed speakers and companies include, Sir Roger Gifford of the UK Green Finance Institute, Rongrong Huo of Ninety One, the Institute of International Finance Washington, Fabio Sofia President of Sustainable Finance Geneva, Ida Levine of the Impact Investing Institute, the UN Financial Centres for Sustainability and UN Sustainable Insurance Forum and Michael Moore of the BVCA. More info here.

SIX: new data sets needed meet demand for sustainable investing. In this video interview, Marion Leslie, head of financial information at SIX explains the importance of data in the financial world and explains the Swiss stock exchange’s recently launched ESG indices for equity and bond markets. // Finance.swiss

Switzerland comes top for preserving its natural capital, survey finds. In order to identify sovereign issuers capable of creating wealth without harming the environment, Candriam has designed its own model for analysing sustainability - and Switzerland comes top in the ranking.  // Allnews

The EU’s green finance rules are here. The Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) came into effect on 10 March, with the aim of bringing greater transparency to the world of sustainable investing. The new rules will affect any companies selling products inside the EU, including Swiss fund and asset managers. // Geneva Solutions

 

US and China to co-chair G20’s Sustainable Finance Study Group. The confidence-building exercise will show whether the two economic powerhouses are able to work together on shared priorities despite their strained relationship, as revealed by the talks in Alaska earlier this month. // Wall Street Journal

 

UK-Norway collaborative initiative seeks to boost climate finance. The new sustainable finance platform, organized around the five pillars of the COP 26 finance campaign, will share knowledge and best practices focused on actionable climate solutions in the financial sector. // IISD SDG Knowledge Hub

The world's nine major development banks provided at least $12bn to clean energy and $3bn for fossil fuels since the start of the pandemic. However 2020 may also be the first year that there was no project financing provided for coal. That's according to new data released this week by Energy Policy Tracker, a website tracking public finance spending for energy across 31 major economies. The analysis also shows that overall project finance spending on fossil fuels in 2018-2020 fell by 40 per cent in 2018-2020 compared to the period 2015-2017. Yet, out of all the polluting fuels, gas made up more than 75 per cent of known MDB fossil fuel support across the 2018-2020 period. As the fastest-growing source of fossil fuel emissions globally, this is one of the main areas to address for the banks. // Energy Policy Tracker

We are interested in getting to know our community members better and sharing stories about their work and experiences. Journalists at Geneva Solutions will be supporting these efforts writing articles, running interviews, as well as producing podcasts and videos. We are inviting you to take part in this editorial project by writing to us.