Swiss banks are bad students when it comes to environmental protection. According to a WWF Switzerland ranking established on the basis of 32 criteria and published on Tuesday, none of the fifteen largest retail banks has yet reached international objectives in terms of climate and biodiversity.
On average, establishments, which have nevertheless made some progress compared to 2021, only total 2.2 points out of a maximum of 5. The majority of them are found in the “Average” category, far from the “Pioneer” or even “Visionary”, underlines the NGO. Only the cantonal banks of Zurich, Thurgau and Bern, as well as Raiffeisen, made it into the “Best practices” category. The only French-speaking establishment evaluated, the Banque cantonale vaudoise ranks 10th, almost equal with Postfinance and Banque Migros.
Good news: most banks, including BCV, have made progress in terms of risk management or even investment advice. Banks thus offer funds related to sustainability or ecology, welcomes the NGO.
It is in the area of “Credits and financing” that they still obtain the least good results, even if this is where the most progress has been made. Explanation: the majority of credits are used for the purchase or construction of real estate, which is the source of significant carbon emissions.
In general, the efforts of banks still focus almost exclusively on the climate sector, without worrying about biodiversity, deforestation or pollution of the environment and waterways, regrets the WWF.
However, “the banking sector is a decisive player in resolving environmental crises. Without a coherent orientation of private financial flows towards climate and biodiversity objectives, we will not be able to achieve them,” underlines Dominik Rothmund, finance expert at WWF Switzerland.
5 trillion dollars in harmful activities
The financial sector plays a central role in protecting the climate and the environment, recalls WWF. According to the United Nations Environment Program, around $5 trillion of private funds flow each year into climate-damaging activities, such as rainforest deforestation and oil exploitation. In addition, several thousand billion are missing to achieve international objectives relating to climate and biodiversity.
