Sustainable Development Goals. Our contributions.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), ratified by UN member states, set forth ambitious global development goals. These include environmental, economic, and social aspects of sustainable development. We are contributing to this effort in a variety of ways.

The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) form a core element of the ambitious and transformative 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development – the first global development agenda to be fully negotiated by UN member states, adopted in 2015. They range from achieving gender equality and combating climate change to promoting sustainable economic growth, amongst other topics. As the SDGs are based on a participatory process, responsibility for achieving them is shared between states, the private sector, the scientific community and civil society. The target date for the realization of the goals is 2030. The SDGs explicitly call on all businesses to apply their creativity and innovation to solve sustainable development challenges. Beyond that, companies can only achieve long-term success if they operate in an economically stable and socially cohesive environment. Also, the SDGs are anticipated to generate at least USD 12 trillion worth of market opportunities.

Credit Suisse and the SDGs

Credit Suisse believes that it is in the interest of both our organization and our clients for us to develop and support measures that contribute to a more sustainable economy. Since the introduction of the SDGs by the UN, we have been pursuing activities designed to contribute to their realization in our role as a global financial institution. Credit Suisse does so in various ways, including in our role as a financial intermediary and employer. Furthermore, we have been active in the sustainable investment space for more than 16 years. We are constantly broadening our sustainable investment offering and aligning it more and more closely with the SDGs. Other activities in support of the SDGs include our environmental management system as well as our global initiatives in education and financial inclusion, whose tenth anniversary we celebrated in 2018.

Apart from active support, companies can contribute to achieving the SDGs by addressing potential negative impacts on people and the environment. Our focus on sustainability risk management can help us to reduce potential negative impacts that certain business activities might have on the realization of the SDGs.