Partner Initiative: Swiss Climate Foundation
Swiss Re is one of the founding partners of the Swiss Climate Foundation, established to support climate-friendly projects at small and medium-sized companies.
In 2008, we set up the Swiss Climate Foundation with ten other partner companies. It was a response to the introduction of the Swiss CO2 law, which provides the basis for the CO₂ levy on heating fuels in Switzerland. This levy is not a proper tax but rather, it is an environmental market mechanism: it imposes a charge on the use of heating fuels and then reimburses the money raised – to private companies proportionate to their total salary expenses. This means that financial services providers who use relatively small amounts of heating fuel but employ large workforces receive a net rebate,
Supporting climate-friendly projects of small and medium-sized companies
The 32 partner companies use proceeds from these funds to finance the Foundation with the mandate to support climate-friendly projects undertaken by small and medium-sized companies (SMEs). Over the last 16 years, the Foundation has provided grants totalling CHF 40 million in Switzerland and the Principality of Liechtenstein. Of these grants, over CHF 20 million supported around 200 innovation projects, and the remainder was spent on the former grant programmes.
Sponsoring the Foundation's managing director position
In addition to donating its allocated levy rebate, Swiss Re has been sponsoring the Foundation's managing director position since it was established in 2008.