The Swiss State Secretariat for International Finance (SIF) and four associations representing Swiss financial institutions have announced they will beta test the Net-Zero Data Public Utility (NZDPU). The NZDPU intends to provide an open, free, and centralised data repository allowing all stakeholders to “easily” access key climate transition-related data, commitments, and progress of businesses and financial institutions toward those commitments. The proposal for the NZDPU was created by the Climate Data Steering Committee (CDSC), which was established in June 2022 by French President Emmanuel Macron and UN Special Envoy for Climate Ambition and Solutions Michael Bloomberg. The four financial organisations that have joined the SIF in testing the NZDPU platform are the Asset Management Association Switzerland, Swiss Bankers Association, Swiss Insurance Association, and Swiss Sustainable Finance. The regulator and organisations will collaborate with Swiss financial institutions that are members of the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero or implement the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures recommendations to provide feedback as early testers for the NZDPU. Speaking at the New Global Financial Pact in Paris last week, Mary Schapiro, Chair of the CDSC, confirmed that a pilot of the NZDPU is set to be released ahead of COP28 in Dubai at the end of November. At the same event, Taskforce for Nature-related Financial Disclosures co-Chair David Craig confirmed the organisation is currently mulling the creation of a counterpart data utility for nature.
