As we approach the middle of the decade, one profound shift we’re seeing is the convergence of artificial intelligence (AI) and sustainability efforts. With climate change accelerating and regulatory pressure increasing, and with global temperatures projected to rise by 2 to 3 degrees Celsius without significant action, more businesses are seeking innovative ways to cut emissions, streamline operations and achieve ambitious net-zero goals. AI is emerging as one of the most powerful tools to make this transition both effective and scalable.

On Tuesday, September 3rd, I contributed to the vibrant discussion at the Deloitte and Liechtenstein Bankers Association panel, "United to Create an Impact: Transforming Finance for a Sustainable Future.

At the halfway point of COP28, it is still unclear if the world´s governments will officially commit to phasing out fossil fuels. Regardless of the final commitment, a (or THE) major vehicle to move towards net zero as a global community, is going to be finance - not a new realization you might say. A very hard one to to put into practice though.

The reporting space is frantically searching for the right standard to use for “sustainability-reporting” and has to date not accomplished much more than numerous statements of “intention of alignment with each other” by the big players in ESG reporting like EFRAG and the EU Regulator, the WEF-IBC, the “Alliance of ESG standard setters” (CDP, SASB, GRI, CDSB, IIRC), the FSB via the TCFD and the IFRS to just name a few.

Sustainability, ESG, Climate Change, Carbon Neutral, SDGs and CSR are all expressions we hear and read day in day out in our professional and private lives and it is easy to attribute this media saturation to it just being the next fad, the next big thing to talk about like Brexit, the US elections, Covid or any other recent big news story.

In one of my entries on Medium.com I talked about „Sustainable Investing” where I provided some food for thought around the private investor’s options in this space and introduced some categories of investment vehicles that could be interesting for anyone wanting to “do good” while “investing smart” (Green Bonds, Development Bonds, ESG Thematic Equities etc.).

In my earlier piece on „Sustainable Investing” I provided some food for thought around the private investor’s options in this space and introduced some investment vehicles that could be interesting for anyone wanting to “do good” while “investing smart” (Green Bonds, Development Bonds, ESG Thematic Equities etc.).

While this entry was supposed to be about the global water crisis, recycling, fast fashion or the actual environmental benefits of electric cars, I have been pulled back into my line of work (banking) and the topic of Sustainable Investments. As we all know, big bad banks invest in big bad companies that are horribly unsustainable.

So we are all aware by now that we need to reduce global warming, that we ought to produce less waste and that there are too many people living and working under horrid conditions. We are constantly reminded by the likes of Greta that we need to do something, that we have done wrong in the past and that the clock is ticking. We’ve also been told that it is up to us, the people, and not the governments to „do something“.