By Etienne Eichenberger. Philanthropy is a discrete but active field in Switzerland with about one foundation for every 1000 citizens. Like many other economies, over the past few months Switzerland has been faced with a new reality, notably in the financial industry, which no one had predicted would happen within this generation. When the financial industry sector represents 12.5% of your GDP, changes will necessarily have implications on all other economic sectors. In early October I took part in a very stimulating conference with the inspiring title of ‘Responsible Leadership in Times of Change’. (…) We have been part of a movement of 15 founders, including SRI experts, philanthropy advisors and market leaders in microfinance such as Blueorchard and Symbiotics. In October 2008 a new platform called Sustainable Finance Geneva (SFG) was launched with the purpose of promoting sustainability and responsibility within Geneva’s financial community. SFG targets professionals who are looking to invest responsibly and are determined to structure and focus their action. More…

Source: Philanthropy UK