The Swiss financial sector must not support “the destruction of the planet”. An alliance of politics, business and NGOs launched a popular initiative “for a sustainable and future-oriented Swiss financial center” on Tuesday.
Decline of wild bees, floods in Spain or thawing of permafrost: the consequences of the climate crisis are already enormous and will continue to grow in the years to come, national councilor Marc Jost (PEV/BE) told the media in Bern.
And to cite that it would take up to 8,000 billion dollars per year to achieve the objective of net zero emissions by 2050. If climate protection is expensive, the absence of climate protection costs even more, added MP Stefan Müller-Altermatt (Center/SO).
According to him, Switzerland has a particular role to play: its financial center, “which is an international heavyweight, is a gigantic lever for advancing decarbonization”.
“Insufficient” voluntary measures
However, the major Swiss banks and insurance companies currently invest billions each year in activities abroad that harm the environment, such as the deforestation of the tropical forest or the exploitation of coal, criticized national councilor Mattea Meyer ( PS/ZH).
While the Swiss economy and population are making efforts to protect the climate, the financial center produces abroad around 18 times the quantity of CO2 emissions of Switzerland, added MP Kathrin Bertschy (PVL/BE) . And to find that purely voluntary measures are not enough to bring about the necessary change.
“Restrictive rules of the game”
“We must impose binding rules of the game,” declared Thomas Vellacott, director general of the WWF. And to emphasize that such rules already exist in other financial centers, such as London, Hong Kong or Singapore.
The rules must apply to all players, added Michael Malquarti, risk director in a Geneva management company. According to him, the text applies for the financial sector and from an environmental perspective “a simple and fundamental principle of liberalism, the prohibition of harming others”.
All parties except the UDC
Concretely, it is requested that the Confederation take measures to ensure that financial flows respect international standards in terms of climate and biodiversity protection.
The initiative also “targetedly” limits the financing of fossil energy projects, explained Stefan Müller-Altermatt. To achieve the 1.5 degree target set in the Paris Agreement, “it is urgent to quickly abandon fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas,” said Mattea Meyer.
Monitoring must also be established to ensure compliance with obligations. Exceptions are provided for activities that have a minimal impact on the environment. The idea is not to create an unnecessary bureaucratic burden, noted Michael Malquarti.
The committee is made up of current and former federal elected officials from all the main parties, except the UDC. He has until May 26, 2026 to collect 100,000 signatures.
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