People ride bicycles on a dike at Norderney island, Germany, in front of wind turbines, June 1, 2021.
Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Greenpeace Switzerland has called for better policing of the sustainable investment sector after finding that many funds in this category are failing to deliver on their promises.
The examination found that most funds lacked any real “Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance” (ESG) impact. The few positive cases brought improvements to major environmental controversies or the cement and defence industries.
“Most of the so-called sustainable investments that are currently being offered are actually damaging the climate,” complains Greenpeace.
“Without clear guidelines on what constitutes sustainable investments, there is a great danger of greenwashing, misleading customers into thinking they are making sustainable investments when in fact their money does not end up having a positive impact on the environment and society.”
The sustainable finance industry is booming worldwide following the Paris climate agreement and the introduction of UN sustainable development goals.
In a report released last weekExternal link, the association Swiss Sustainable Finance stated that sustainable investments in Switzerland increased by nearly a third last year to reach CHF1.5 trillion ($1.6 trillion).
But Greenpeace fears that many are failing to follow goals set out by the United Nations or the Paris climate agreement and that financial institutions are simply allowed to make up their criteria as they go along.
The NGO is calling for lawmakers and regulators to step in to force transparency, impose minimum standards and to stop financial players from cheating investors.
“In Switzerland no measures have yet been defined to regulate sustainable investment funds or to prevent greenwashing,” the report states.
Popular Stories
More
Foreign affairs
What Trump’s return or a new Harris administration would mean for Switzerland
Direct trains to run from Zurich to Florence and Livorno
This content was published on
The Swiss Federal Railways and Trenitalia will offer direct trains from Zurich to Florence and Livorno and vice versa from 2026.
Number of Swiss armed forces exceeds specified limit
This content was published on
The Swiss armed forces had an effective headcount of around 147,000 as of March 1, 2024. This exceeds the upper limit of 140,000 specified in the army organisation by 5%.
More than 400,000 cross-border commuters now work in Switzerland
This content was published on
More than half of all cross-border commuters were resident in France (around 57%). Large proportions also lived in Italy (23%) and Germany (around 16%).
Amherd and von der Leyen discuss ongoing Swiss-EU negotiations
This content was published on
Swiss President Viola Amherd and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen have met and talked about the ongoing negotiations between Bern and Brussels.
This content was published on
One million francs, 34 million euros and around 830 kilos of gold: this is the fortune that two Swiss nationals are accused of having moved across borders for at least four years.
Girls in female-dominated classes earn more later on
This content was published on
At the age of 30, women from school classes with a 55% share of girls earn $350 more per year than women from classes with a 45% share of girls.
This content was published on
Geneva-based luxury goods group Richemont reported a downturn in performance for the first half of its 2024/25 financial year. Both sales and profit declined.
Swiss sustainable finance: world leader or wishful thinking?
This content was published on
Defining the exact nature of sustainable finance and measuring its performance is an ongoing challenge that needs to be solved.
‘Forgotten’ greenhouse gases pose risk to Paris Agreement
This content was published on
CO2 is the best known greenhouse gas, but not the only one. This is how emissions of other gases have evolved in Switzerland and around the world.
This content was published on
Switzerland has moved up two places in an annual league table that ranks countries by efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.