Swiss Climate Scores

Switzerland and its financial centre are fully committed to the target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050, in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement on climate change. The federal government presented an important instrument for achieving this in June 2022: the Swiss Climate Scores. These are an easy-to-understand method of delivering transparency on the Paris alignment of financial investments. They support the Swiss financial centre’s efforts to cement its position as a leading international hub for sustainable finance.

Six indicators aid assessment of Paris alignment

The Swiss Bankers Association (SBA), the Asset Management Association Switzerland (AMAS) and Swiss Sustainable Finance (SSF) welcome the Swiss Climate Scores, which were developed under the auspices of the federal government together with sector experts and NGOs. 
To provide meaningful, comparative information as a basis for assessing the Paris alignment of financial investments, the six new indicators are matched to existing, internationally established criteria and methods:

  1. Greenhouse Gas Emissions
  2. Exposure to Fossil Fuel Activities
  3. Global Warming Alignment
  4. Verified Commitments to Net-Zero
  5. Credible Climate Stewardship
  6. Management to Net-Zero

The indicators give financial institutions a common framework to guide them. In July 2022, AMAS, the SBA and SSF announced a pilot phase to collect initial experiences on the market. Use of the Scores is voluntary for financial institutions. Owing to a lack of data in certain areas and the need to develop guidance on using them, they are not currently applicable to all forms of investment.

With this in mind, AMAS and SSF have created a template that guarantees standardised calculation of the different indicators and uniformly displays results. This template, based on expert consensus, is available to the general public.

The financial industry hopes that it will help the Scores to gain widespread acceptance quickly. The pilot phase will also flag up any room for improvement in the Scores.

Position of SBA

The Swiss financial centre welcomes the new Swiss Climate Scores. This set of criteria based on the latest international findings gives private investors meaningful, comparative information on the extent to which financial investments are aligned with the Paris goals.

The financial industry aims to promote rapid, widespread acceptance of the Swiss Climate Scores and has launched a pilot phase to this end. This is serving to gauge the response and highlight any areas in which the Scores may be in need of improvement.

Experts

Hans-Ruedi Mosberger
Head of Sustainable Finance
+41 58 330 62 61
Alannah Beer
Policy Advisor Sustainable Finance
+41 58 330 62 71
Alexandre Roch
Sustainable Finance Expert
+41 58 330 62 41