Progress has been made, but there is still a lot to be done when it comes to environmental sustainability at the 15 largest retail banks in Switzerland. These are the findings of the WWF Retail Bank Rating 2024, which INFRAS conducted for and together with the WWF. An important focus of the rating is the assessment of the impact of the banks' activities on the environment.
Banks have many tools at their disposal to contribute to a sustainable future. For example, they can offer environmentally friendly banking products to their customers and, through their lending and investment activities, channel money into economic activities that have a positive sustainable impact.
The WWF Retail Bank Rating shows the extent to which the 15 largest Swiss retail banks are environmentally sustainable and where their potential for improvement lies. On behalf of and in collaboration with the WWF, INFRAS played a key role in the revision of the methodology, carrying out the rating and writing the report. Project partner was the rating agency Inrate.
None of the banks achieved a «Visionary» or «Pioneer» rating
The evaluation of the banks is based on 32 criteria within the three strategic areas of «Corporate Governance», «Savings, Investments & Pensions» and «Loans & Financing». The rating categorises the banks into five classes: «Visionary», «Pioneer», «Ambitious», «Mediocre» and «Latecomer».
The WWF Retail Bank Rating shows progress compared to previous ratings. However, it also shows that none of the major banks are meeting international climate and biodiversity targets. The best of the 15 largest retail banks achieve a «Ambitious» rating in the overall assessment - none receive a «Pioneer» or even «Visionary» rating.
In their environmental sustainability efforts, banks focus primarily on climate and energy issues. Biodiversity still plays a minor role – but would be necessary to achieve a higher ranking.
Loans can make a big difference - but have some catching up to do
Banks have a particularly high potential for impact in the area of loans and financing, because they channel money directly into certain business activities or finance the construction or renovation of real estate, thus making them possible in the first place. This is the core business of a retail bank and has the highest weighting in the WWF rating. However, the analysis also shows that there is a lot of catching up to do. The share of sustainable corporate loans and green mortgages in the overall portfolio is still very low.
Less risk assessment, more focus on impact
An important pillar of the 2024 Retail Bank Rating is the impact-focused assessment criteria. The impact of the banks' activities on the environment has been analyzed in depth, while criteria focused on ESG risks have been downgraded. The rating also takes into account the banks' active involvement in the transition to net zero. If a bank's business activities contribute to the greening of «brown» sectors of the economy (e.g. steel, transport), this has a positive effect on the rating.
Rating helps banks and customers become more sustainable
The WWF Retail Bank Rating is aimed at both banks and their customers. The rating is designed to motivate and support banks: The report highlights best practices and provides concrete recommendations on where and how banks can further improve their sustainability efforts.
The rating report also contains clear factsheets on the individual banks and thus also a basis for your own decisions.
Further information:
- Final report (in German)
- Summary
- Methodology
- Operationalisation
- WWF Switzerland: The Retail Bank Rating 2024 (in German)
- WWF Switzerland: Guide for bank customers (in German)
Further INFRAS projects on sustainable finance and ESG:
Project team
