The Swiss Climate Scores (SCS), launched on 29 June 2022 by the State Secretariat for International Financial Matters, enable the comparison of financial investments in relation to the Paris Climate Agreement and its goal of decarbonizing the economy by 2050 and limiting global temperature rise to 1.5°C. They aim to achieve greater transparency and comparability of the climate compatibility of financial investments. AMAS supported the federal government in drawing up the SCS and promoted their implementation among Swiss asset managers.

On 8 December 2023, the SIF published an amended version of the SCS. This contains clarifications that consider feedback from the industry during implementation. Furthermore, the second version of the SCS contains optional questions on the investment objective in relation to the climate. Financial institutions can state and justify whether a financial product is climate-friendly or contributes to mitigating climate change. In addition, not only the exposure to fossil fuels will now be disclosed, but also to renewable energies.

The SCS contain indicators that create a meaningful and comparable information base on the climate compatibility of financial investments. They thus reflect a multidimensional approach that considers both the historical and current carbon performance of the product as well as the transition efforts - i.e. e.g. engagement and net zero strategies - of the underlying assets.

All indicators are based on existing and internationally established criteria and methods:

Overall investment objectives regarding climate (new and optional)

Current State indicators:

1. Greenhouse gas emissions

2. Exposure to fossil fuels and renewable energy (new sub-indicator)

Transition to net zero indicators:

3. Global warming potential (optional)

4. Verified commitments to net-zero

5. Credible climate stewardship

6. Management to net-zero

The application of the SCS remains voluntary for the financial institutions. The SIF envisages that the version 2.0 published progressively replace the first version until 1 January 2025. The SCS were initially not necessarily applicable to all forms of assets due to a partial lack of data availability. However, the SCS have since gained acceptance in the Swiss financial industry and their implementation has accelerated.

According to a survey by AMAS, at least 160 funds from various Swiss asset managers currently use the Swiss Climate Scores. Further providers have announced that they will use the SCS in the first few months of 2024. This should bring the total number of funds using the SCS to 450 by March 2024.

Read more about the Swiss Climate Scores here

Template for calculation

AMAS and Swiss Sustainable Finance (SSF) have created a template that ensures a standardised calculation of the various SCS indicators and presents the results in a uniform manner. This Excel template is based on expert consensus and is available to the public.
Presentation Swiss Climate Scores