Progress in international climate policies presents opportunities for the Liechtenstein financial centre, Adolf Real has announced. During a LIFE Climate Foundation event in Vaduz, the vice president of the foundation and president of the Liechtenstein Bankers Association said: “The Paris climate agreement has included the finance industry for the first time.”
Liechtenstein started considering sustainability as early as 2008, when the government, the Bankers Association and the university founded the LIFE Climate Foundation. “We want to give the impetus to develop market-based instruments in the field of climate protection,” said Real.
Climate expert Thomas Stocker of Bern, lead author of the fifth global climate report, highlighted the risks and opportunities of climate change. He explained that in order to slow it down, we would need a fourth industrial revolution that would force fossil fuel sources out of the economic cycle. “There are ways to master this industrial revolution,” he said, adding that countries like Switzerland and Liechtenstein, with their high standard of education, were predestined to grasp these opportunities.
Burkhard Varnholt, Co-Chief Investment Officer of bank Julius Bär, agreed. He said: “The countries, companies and investors who understand sustainability best will win.” Among the trends of the paradigm shift is sustainable asset management. Adolf Real referred to a positive interim result for Liechtenstein. “We are heading in the right direction, even if we haven’t reached the desired result yet,” he said.