Pledging to Protect Biodiversity
Bank J. Safra Sarasin is proud to announce that it has become the first Swiss institution
to join the Finance for Biodiversity Pledge. With global wildlife populations declining by 60% over
the last 40 years, our planet is effectively facing its sixth mass extinction in history, with far-reaching
consequences. Financial institutions can play an important role in helping to reverse nature’s losses.
As a signatory, we recognise the need to protect biodiversity. Besides collaborating
and sharing knowledge, we commit to engaging with companies by including biodiversity in our ESG policies.
We also pledge to assess our own biodiversity impact and set science-based targets in order to increase
our positive impact significantly, while minimising any negative effects.
“As a pioneer in sustainable investments with over 30 years’ experience, we have
long embedded environmental issues related to biodiversity across our investment process. It is also
a focus topic in our engagement with corporate leaders. But there is clearly more to do in terms of
data sourcing and reporting about biodiversity risks and impacts. We are pledging to do our share as
the business case for scaling up action on biodiversity is becoming ever clearer,” said Jan Poser, Chief
Strategist and Head Sustainability at Bank J. Safra Sarasin.
The Finance for Biodiversity Pledge is a collective of 26 financial institutions
around the world with EUR 3 trillion in assets, who have committed to making a positive contribution
to biodiversity through investments and activities.