2023-10-02 18:06:36
Takeover of Credit Suisse
Environmental strategy puzzle for UBS boss
While UBS faces criticism over its environmental objectives, Sergio Ermotti explained the difficulties encountered in implementing a “coherent” project.
PublishedOctober 2, 2023, 8:06 p.m.
Sergio Ermotti was at a conference in Geneva on sustainable finance.
AFP
The forced merger of Credit Suisse with UBS will also be marked by the rapprochement of two “different” environmental strategies, recognized on Monday the boss of UBS, who has the heavy task of cleaning up the activities of his former rival. “Bringing together two systemic banks also means bringing together two different policies on how to achieve the objectives for 2050,” Sergio Ermotti said at a conference in Geneva on sustainable finance.
“The two banks had each defined objectives. But the way each one decided to achieve it is different,” added the UBS boss, explaining that the objective of his teams is now to implement a “coherent” project.
Strong criticism from environmentalists
Both UBS and Credit Suisse are facing strong criticism over their plans to achieve the goals set by the Paris Agreement by 2050. Shortly following the rescue of Credit Suisse in March, the Swiss Climate Alliance, which brings together several environmental organizations, had criticized the two banks for lagging behind their competitors, in particular regarding the exit from fossil fuels.
The criticism comes from NGOs but also from investors, including the Ethos Foundation, which represents pension funds in Switzerland, which strongly criticized Credit Suisse, during its general meeting in 2022, for its financing of companies active in energy. fossils since the signing of the Paris Agreement.
Financing fossil fuels
“I would like to know if UBS, which has a very weak policy in coal, will reduce Credit Suisse’s investments in hydraulic fracturing,” said Guillaume Durin, campaigner for the NGO Breakfree, who came to protest in Geneva at first day of this conference on sustainable finance.
Activists from this NGO placed in front of the International Conference Center the remains of charred trees from a forest fire in July in Valais as well as debris from a storm, the same month, in the watchmaking town of La Chaux -de-Fonds, to show the damage caused by climate change and, thus, challenge the organizers of the event regarding the presence of banks which still finance fossil fuels.
“The trajectory is there, but there is still a long way to go.”
Sergio Ermotti
The UBS boss explained that the role of banks is to help investors finance their projects to achieve their sustainable development objectives. But, according to him, there is still a long way to go before we can move away from fossil fuels, especially since “geopolitical tensions have created more dependence” on them. “The trajectory is there, but there is still a long way to go,” Ermotti said during this conference.
(AFP)Show comments
1696272713
#Takeover #Credit #Suisse #Puzzle #environmental #strategy #UBS #boss
