«Green Fear» for Swiss Banks
1. No Climate Policy? No Payouts
Social Democrat Fabian Molina wants to ban Swiss banks and insurers from dividend payouts or shareholder buybacks, from 2025, if their business doesn't meet the 1.5-degree goal laid out by a climate agreement drafted in Paris in 2015.
Capital for payouts and buybacks stems from «climate- or biodiversity-damaging loans and financing,» Molina wrote in the proposal. Banks should be banned from using the funds as shareholder payouts «if they finance or insure projects which damage the environment.»
Green lawmaker Sophie Michaud Gigon wants the government to report on «the possibility and method of adapting transparency requirements to clients to include the social and environmental implications of the financial products.»
Consumers are often in the dark about how sustainable their investments actually are, according to Michaud Gigon. She wants finance firms to be required to inform clients about their products' climate footprint and sustainability as part of suitability requirements.
