Over 2,000 participants joined Switzerland’s largest sustainable finance gathering, which was held in Geneva from 30 September to 2 October. UBP was proud to continue its long-standing support as a silver sponsor of this event.
With sustainability facing headwinds in today’s geopolitical context, many panellists emphasised that the transition is not a moral aspiration, but a necessity for prosperity.
‘Sustainability leads to resilience, resilience leads to security, and security leads to prosperity,’
Swiss Federal Councillor Martin Pfister said in his opening speech.
The presence of former US Secretary of State John Kerry was a key highlight, with his messages echoing well beyond the walls of the conference venue.
Despite the political developments in his home country, he showed optimism, seeing the energy transition as the greatest opportunity for the economy and investors.
‘It is the biggest transformation since the Industrial Revolution,’ he told attendees while stressing that, ‘there’s a lot of money to be made in this transition.’
Many speakers made clear that the energy transition is well under way and other markets are undeterred, citing China as an example in this context.
Key takeayways from Building Bridges
UBP’s delegation welcomed the conference’s focus on pragmatism, leaving with some valuable insights:
- Change the narrative around sustainable finance: It is time to move away from ideology and focus on evidence, sound risk management, new business opportunities and long-term value creation. As Kerry put it, ‘the narrative needs to shift from morality to materiality.’
- Making sustainable finance mainstream: We have to stop seeing sustainable investing as niche and rather fully integrate it into financial decision-making.
- The transition is already investable and solutions are increasingly available: From private markets accelerating early-stage innovation, to nature finance moving from theory to structured asset classes, to new mechanisms de-risking and thus bringing capital into emerging markets, many opportunities exist.
- Heavy emitters must be part of the solution: While sustainable finance often targets mature sectors like renewables, we must invest in heavy emitters, such as cement and steel manufacturers, that are adjusting their business models.
- Emerging markets offer compelling opportunities: There was a strong call from mainstream asset managers to look to emerging markets and developing countries for investment opportunities.
- Private markets hold promising potential: Although they represent a fraction of the public market share, private markets are a powerful, complementary tool, especially when it comes to early-stage innovations
- Stewardship is critical for driving change: It must be anchored at the highest level of governance and be driven by material topics.
- Collaboration is key: Finance plays an essential role in the sustainability transition, but as Rhian-Mari Thomas of the Green Finance Institute put it, ‘policy is the enabler, finance is the facilitator, and the real economy is the driver.’
Navigating the sustainability transition: renewable energy and materials
With the energy transition featuring prominently at the conference, UBP was proud to co-host an interactive event with EY and EFG on this topic.
Given the critical role of metals for shifting to renewables, the session explored the material supply chain for the energy transition.
‘“We should not create too many hurdles for mining companies as otherwise the cost to deliver the energy transition will become prohibitively excessive.”
Marc Elliott, Energy Transition and Natural Resources Investment Specialist at UBP
He went on to explain that mining is inherently a high-risk undertaking, but that many companies have an interest in mitigating risks, as doing so lowers the cost of capital and helps move the transition forwards.
Nature finance in focus
Nature also continued to gain traction. In keeping with the conference’s general tone, the focus shifted from nature-related risks to opportunities.
Speaking at an event co-hosted by the Asset Management Association Switzerland (AMAS), Swiss Banking and the Geneva Financial Center entitled, ‘Unlocking opportunities in nature finance,’ Robert Wibberley, UBP’s Head of Sustainability Solutions, AM, highlighted the role of public capital markets in advancing nature finance.
“While blended finance, nature credits, and concessional financing are all important tools, public markets hold the majority of global assets – 10 times more than private markets – and offer the liquidity and access needed to scale up solutions for the majority of investors.’”
Robert Wibberley, Head of Sustainability Solutions, AM, UBP
In his keynote speech, he also emphasised the broader scope of nature finance beyond conservation finance and the many opportunities that exist across the entire investment spectrum.
UBP has been closely collaborating with the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL) on this topic, resulting in the report ‘Scaling Finance for Nature: A primer on what financial institutions are doing today’. It shows how nature recovery finance – i.e. finance aimed at avoiding and minimising harm to nature – as well as restoring nature to no net loss, can happen today and at scale with existing private commercial capital.
