Federal Council decides on further development of Swiss Climate Scores
Bern, 08.12.2023 - The Swiss financial centre should further enhance its credibility and international competitiveness with regard to the climate transparency of financial products. With this in mind, the Federal Council decided at its meeting on 8 December 2023 to further develop the voluntary Swiss Climate Scores introduced in 2022.
The Swiss Climate Scores provide institutional and private investors with comparable and meaningful information on the extent to which their financial investments are compatible with international climate goals. When the Swiss Climate Scores were introduced in 2022, the Federal Council announced that it would regularly review them, adapt them to the latest developments as necessary and investigate the voluntary uptake by Swiss financial market players.
Some aspects of the updated Swiss Climate Scores, which will apply from 1 January 2025, have been refined in order to facilitate their implementation by the industry and increase their comprehensibility for investors. Optional questions are now being asked on the climate-related investment goal, with financial institutions stating and justifying whether a financial product is climate aligned or contributes to mitigating climate change. In addition, the exposure to renewable energies must now be disclosed alongside the exposure to fossil fuels.
The Federal Council recommends that Swiss financial market players create comparable and meaningful transparency on climate alignment for all financial investments and client portfolios and, where appropriate, apply the Swiss Climate Scores. In 2024, the Federal Department of Finance (FDF) unit SIF will examine the state of voluntary uptake.
The Swiss Climate Scores contain indicators that not only reflect where global companies in the financial product or portfolio currently stand, but also show where these companies are headed in relation to global climate goals (net zero target by 2050). Net zero means that global emissions of greenhouse gases may not exceed the amount that can be absorbed by natural and technical sinks.
Address for enquiries
Communications, State Secretariat for International Finance SIF
Tel. +41 58 462 46 16, info@sif.admin.ch
Publisher
The Federal Council
https://www.admin.ch/gov/en/start.html
State Secretariat for International Financial Matters
http://www.sif.admin.ch
