Search by tag: #sustainability
Sep 16, 2026
An email from Mythos: the case for Responsible AI in finance
In April 2026, Sam Bowman, a safety researcher at Anthropic, was eating a sandwich in a park when he received an unexpected email... AI-related safety concerns, which were in the realm of science fiction two years ago, are becoming reality. At the same time, concerns rise over socio-economic implications, and other externalities, as the capacities of these models evolve. What does that mean for the responsible adoption of AI in financial services, and for the due diligence over investee or lendee companies?
Feb 16, 2026
Coal vs. Nuclear: where sustainability meets geopolitics
As crazy as this sounds in a world where climate risk is translating into concrete events more and more often, taking its toll both in lives and in impact on production sites, the US is moving to support more coal-fired power, and even made mandatory for the Defense Department to buy coal-generated electricity. At the very same time, China building more nuclear reactors than any other country in the world. Two approaches, reflective of completely different strategic time horizons.
Feb 04, 2026
Sustainability, a new humanism? (round 7)
The XVIIIth centruy gave rise to the inspiring ideal of human perfectibility and of continuous progress of mankind: technical progress at the service of moral progress. However, the nineteenth and twentieth centuries challenged this ideal, and the world wars revealed how a technically advanced civilization could use its technology without moral control. Starting from 1950 intellectural streams quesitoned whether our efforts to master and transform our environment may threaten the very survival of humanity. Are we stuck in an impossible choice between progress and conservation?
Jan 29, 2026
How Artificial Intelligence contributes to Sustainable Finance
For decades now, artificial intelligence (AI) has been part of our daily lives without attracting much public attention. The recent rise of “Generative AI” capabilities has, however, sparked a sudden and considerable interest for AI from the general public. This publication by Swiss Sustainable Finance explores and explains how Artificial Intelligence can be used to further develop, improve and enhance sustainable finance practices. A must read !
Nov 24, 2025
Artificial intelligence to measure and transform sustainable finance
The Neolithic hunter, who had to endlessly polish the stone of his small axe every evening in order to hunt his saber-toothed tiger steak the next day, probably wished for an automatic grinding machine more than once. We have made this dream come true. Since the Industrial Revolution, our society has gradually replaced muscle power with machine power. For several years now, we have been confronted with machines that even surpass us in terms of our intellectual abilities.
Jul 17, 2025
Not just data: Climate Risk brought to life
What does a storm surge really look like? We often talk about climate risks in abstract metrics: degrees of warming , sea level rise in centimeters, t ons of CO₂ emissions, etc. But we, humans, do not feel data. Numbers stay abstract until they hit us where it matters — our homes, our jobs, our lives. One of the best visualizations I’ve seen of this is from The Weather Channel, which was viral a few years ago, and is still powerful.
Jun 27, 2025
Climate risk is becoming unisurable risk - and that is a systemic threat
I recently came across an excellent FT article: "How the next financial crisis starts". Very clear narrative why climate risk is becoming an immediate concern for insurers – and in turn for the whole financial services industry, as well as individuals.
Jun 05, 2025
Managing sustainability data with blockchain and Artificial Intelligence
"Bad data = bad decisions" could have been the motto of this panel, moderated by my friend Michele Soavi. Under his lead, we explored together the challenges of sustainability data collection, transparency, and reporting, and how emerging technologies like blockchain and AI can help overcome these obstacles.
May 16, 2025
Is Venice sinking? Evidencing sea level rise with Canaletto's paintings
The acqua alte rising over the level of the Piazza San Marco, and inhabitants walking over improvised and fragile wooden gateways, may be now a familiar sight in Venice, but it still catches the eye and the imagination when you see it. This marvel of human art, this testimony to the immortality of the human spirit suddently appears so fragile. A few years back I came across a study that blew me away, by Dario Camuffo, researcher at the Institute of Atmospheric Science and Climate in Padua.
Apr 09, 2025
The "Great Acceleration" is the very reason why sustainability matters
Since the mid-20thcentury, our societies have witnessed demographic and socio-economic changes of a magnitude and at a pace that are unprecedent in human history. In a single human lifetime, we've seen steep surges across 24 indicators: from global GDP and energy use to CO₂ concentration, ocean acidification, and biodiversity loss. These trends are measurable, and they tell a story of scale, speed, and imbalance. Businesses as well as private persons have to adopt sustainable development practices to give our societies a change to perpetuate.
Mar 21, 2025
Through the Porthole: The Reality of Rising Sea Levels
If you've ever wondered what the future might look like as the oceans rise, we can now see it thanks to useful visualisations and interactive tools from NASA. Read for more details...
Mar 15, 2025
For an ecological ethics: moral of action or ethics of abstention?
The second half of the 20th century saw a growing awareness of ecological danger, the idea of a destructive imbalance that had established itself between nature and man. We are rediscovering the fragility of the natural interdependencies of "ecosystems", and at the same time our powerlessness to predict or control the impact of human action on these interdependencies. The dream of Modernity to "ender ourselves masters and possessors of nature" seems to be slowly disappearing. This article explores to potential foundations for an ecological ethics of our time.
Jan 24, 2025
A Greenwashing Index
I recently came across this very interesting research paper by two researchers from the ESSEC business school, called "A Greenwashing index". This paper constructs an intriguing greenwashing index using natural language processing techniques on nearly one million Wall Street Journal articles from 1986 to 2022. Their two-step approach first identified climate risk-related articles and then pinpointed those mentioning greenwashing.
Oct 16, 2024
From value to valuation: an economic case for sustainable finance
Who killed the ESG party?” the Financial Times asked last July. From a somewhat niche topic a decade ago, sustainable finance has become one of the top strategic agenda items at most financial services firms in Europe. Yet, the momentum seems now to be running out of steam.
De mémoire de rose, on n'a jamais vu mourir un jardinier.
Sep 17, 2024
Vendanges et cerisiers
Ah, le changement climatique ! Il y peu de sujets aussi controversés et déchaînant autant les passions. Si presque tout le monde s’accorde à observer certains phénomènes, la part exacte que joue l’activité humaine est sujette à débat. C’est pourquoi je trouve proprement merveilleux d’avoir parfois quelques exemples parlants à partager. Des exemples tout simples, des observations empiriques presque triviales. Parlons aujourd'hui des vignes de Beaune et des cerisiers du Japon.
Faut-il opposer brutalement à une idéologie accusée d'avoir soumis la nature à l'homme une idéologie qui soumet l'homme à la nature et subordonne l'éthique à l'ontologie?
Sep 11, 2024
The Pineapple syndrom: welcome to the Age of Impatience
Within a lifetime, we have seen a dramatic shift in how goods and experiences are available to us. Things that were scarce and precious became ubiquitous, and access became quite easy. Without a doubt, this shift from scarcity to abundance improved the quality of life in many respects, yet it also rewrote basic human behaviors and expectations. We have little patience for whatever does not amuse us instantly. How to keep the power of concentration, of perseverance, of working hard for long stretches of time toward a goal, defining characteristics of humankind?