Geneva could become the international centre of sustainable finance: The Swiss city is making great strides in becoming a hub for sustainable finance.

• Author: Epalle, Alexandre

It is essential to mobilize financial centres to accelerate the transition towards a sustainable economy. The 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) cannot be financed only by public funds, so it is imperative to generate private capital. We believe in joint action by the public and private sectors to take advantage of the opportunities associated with sustainability. In this context, the role of the financial sector is key.

The trend is now clear: integrating environmental, social and governance factors into investment portfolios is becoming a major challenge; the green bond market continues to grow; and numerous governments are developing national strategies while financial regulators envisage integrating environmental risks into market oversight.

The Swiss financial market has a historic opportunity to accelerate the transition towards more sustainable forms of development and also to benefit from associated market opportunities. Inaction would incur significant risks to the Swiss economy, notably in terms of stability of the financial system.

Geneva, thanks in particular to its internationally recognized knowledge of finance and the presence of numerous international organizations integrating this notion of sustainability, has some remarkable assets enabling it to position itself as an important centre for sustainable finance. Geneva is also the technical and operational centre of the United Nations for achieving the SDGs. Furthermore, as the birthplace of microfinance, it may already have among the best specialists in the field.

The presence of a state-of-the-art academic sector also helps create fertile ground for the development of sustainable finance. We are working closely with the University of Geneva, which has incorporated courses in sustainable finance into various curricula, to equip the next generation of financial-market actors with the proper tools. The Geneva Tsinghua Initiative, a partnership between the University of Geneva and Tsinghua University in Beijing, offers training opportunities associated with the SDGs on both campuses for students and professionals.

However, the nascent knowledge of sustainable finance still needs to be developed and promoted, as may be seen from the fact that Geneva's classification in the Global Green Finance Index is far from the top ranks.

To achieve this aim, awareness is needed on the part of our financial institutions. Effectively, the shift to sustainable finance must...