Virtual Thematic Event: The Need for Climate Resilient Food Systems

June 2nd, 2021

This Thematic Event was co-organized with the World Food Systems Center of the ETH and the RESPONSE Doctoral Programme, to talk about climate resilience in our food systems!

Food systems must always provide sufficient, adequate and accessible food for all, in a sustainable way. They fundamentally influence the environment and well-being of the planet, the livelihoods of billions of people all around the world, and the nutrition and health of every human being. Many regions around the world are experiencing an increase in climate-related shocks, such as drought, natural disasters and pest outbreaks. This poses serious threats to farming activities and has major implications for sustaining rural livelihoods and food security.

Many of these drivers of change are hard to predict, and therefore hard to manage. Food systems are intrinsically complex: they comprise many different processes, value chains, actors and interactions; their outcomes affect multiple stakeholders and sectors in diverse and sometimes conflicting ways. 

With so much uncertainty and complexity, we wanted to discuss one particular aspect during this event: How can science, industry and consumers work together and what can they each contribute to increase the resilience of food systems to climate change? 

Participants were offered the unique opportunity to interact with Prof. Johan Six, Professor in Sustainable Agroecosystems at ETH Zurich,  Fabrizio Arigoni, Head of Plant Science at Nestlé, and young scientists and specialists in their fields, who will gave an insight to their current scientific work and answered your questions for example on current plant breeding technologies in a changing climate, land usage, and forage technology.

 

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Virtual Informal Drinks: Das CO2-Gesetz im Visier

May 25th, 2021

Am 13. Juni 2021 stimmt die Schweizer Bevölkerung über das CO2-Gesetz ab. Mit diesem soll die Schweiz ihren Verpflichtungen, die sie im Rahmen des Pariser Klimaabkommens eingegangen ist, die Treibhausgasemissionen bis 2030 zu halbieren, wahrnehmen. Für ein Ja sprechen sich nicht nur Umweltaktivist*innen und Vertreter*innen der Klima-Allianz Schweiz aus. Auch gewichtige Stimmen aus der Wirtschaft und die meisten grossen Parteien begrüssen das CO2-Gesetz, das als erster Schritt zu einer nachhaltigen Schweiz verstanden wird. 

“Vernünftig bleiben” ermahnen die Gegner*innen, die das Referendum gegen das CO2-Gesetz ergriffen haben – unter vor allem Vertreter*innen aus der Autobranche, der Gebäude- und Mineralölbranche. Ob die Schweiz ihren Verbrauch um 20, 50 oder 80% senke, so steht es auf der Website des Referendum-Komitees, habe kaum eine Auswirkung auf das Weltklima. Es mache mehr Sinn, in Forschung und Innovationen zu investieren und vor allem sinnvolle Klimaschutzprojekte im Ausland zu unterstützen.

An diesem interaktiven Event haben wir uns gemeinsam mit Gastredner und Klimaschutzexperten Patrick Hofstetter von WWF Schweiz angesehen, was das CO2-Gesetz genau fordert und was die Argumente der Befürworter*innen und Gegner*innen der Initiative sind.

Wer sich Patricks Input noch einmal anschauen möchte, findet eine Aufzeichnung davon auf unserem Youtubekanal.

 

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Virtual Thematic Event: Hydrogen & its Potential in the Energy Transition

May 19th, 2021

It is universally accepted that the way we produce, store and use energy will be paramount in reaching our sustainable development goals. And there is one topic in particular that seems to be on everyone’s mind at the moment: Hydrogen. But what exactly is its importance and role in the energy transition? Why is it such a hot topic? And how will it affect the energy sector in the coming years? 

The Energy Strategy 2050 of Switzerland envisages a gradual transformation of the energy system. Environmentally friendly and renewable energy sources are to become economically competitive with other energy sources in the future, and applicable innovations are particularly in demand for this purpose. 

In this context, hydrogen will play an important role. It is predicted that green hydrogen produced by electrolysis with renewable energies will grow rapidly in the coming years. Furthermore, there are important synergies between hydrogen and renewable energies. Hydrogen can potentially boost the growth of the renewable electricity market and extend the reach of renewable solutions. 

Even though hydrogen bears a huge potential in the energy transition, there are still some big questions to be answered & problems to be addressed:

-Hydrogen vs green hydrogen: hydrogen doesn’t automatically equal sustainability, respectively: How sustainable is hydrogen?

-Producing Hydrogen is expensive – What is needed for hydrogen to become more cost efficient?

-Is the production and use of hydrogen scalable? 

-What is the role of regulators in driving hydrogen, its scalability and cost efficiency forward?

Together with expert speakers Prof. Dr. Rolf Wüstenhagen from the University of St. Gallen, Franziska Steidle-Sailer from AQUON, Rainer Deutschmann from Migros-Genossenschafts-Bund and Christoph Sutter from Axpo, we took a close look at the potential of hydrogen and discussed various approaches to answering these questions.

In case you weren’t able to join or would like to refresh your memory, you can watch recordings of our speakers’ inputs on our Youtube channel. 

 

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Networking Event Series – Biodiversity Informal Drinks

May 11th, 2021

The Networking Event Series – Biodiversity Informal Drinks was powered by Innosuisse. 

This event built on our in-depth thematic event on this topic on April 22nd. It offered a chance to continue the conversations, involve new people into the discussion and keep connected.

2021 marks the second year in the “Decade of Action”, and it is action that is needed now. In the face of nature and biodiversity loss, global and national political actors have made efforts to conserve our endangered ecosystems, but Swiss biodiversity still leaves much to be desired.

That is where non-state actors come into play: Private companies, large and small can have a huge and immediate impact on the societies they are embedded in and the nature that surrounds them.

On May 11th we continued the conversation around the impacts of nature loss for societies and businesses and exchange ideas and solutions with fellow sustainability enthusiasts. Key topics were:

– What tangible steps can companies take in the fight against biodiversity loss?

– How can their impact be amplified?

– And what is the individual’s role?

At this informal Networking Event, we got inspired by expert speaker Alice Balmer from Forma Futura and engaged in group discussions while making personal and professional connections.

 

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Networking Event Series – Protecting Biodiversity

April 22nd, 2021

The current decline in nature and biodiversity is unprecedented. In order to preserve species and ecosystems, the time for action – on a global and local level – is now. 

Few months before the UN Convention on Biological Diversity 2021, we invited our network to join us for this crucial discussion about biodiversity and about what role companies can and should play to protect and restore nature. 

The long-term sustainability of businesses depends on the conservation of biodiversity. While the level of dependency can vary across sectors, the loss of biodiversity is a critical risk for all. A failure to take biodiversity into account could lead to reduced food supplies, disrupted supply chains, economic loss from floods or fires — we are far from knowing the full impact of biodiversity loss in our interconnected ecosystems. 

Therefore, it is essential that non-state actors get involved and take action. Businesses need to make biodiversity conservation a priority to understand and rethink their relationship with nature. Financial companies could measure and incorporate nature-related risk in a way that is similar to the management of climate change risks. 

In light of the urgent need for action to protect and restore nature, this event discussed the importance of biodiversity conservation and ecosystem restoration, its relationship with climate change, and the roles for non-state actors.

This event was a GreenBuzz Zurich premiere: our first ever hybrid event! Keynote speakers and business leaders joined us at EISBERG PRODUCTIONS studio and remotely via zoom. Expert speakers Prof. Dr. Judith Walls, Franka Bosman, Dominic Ziegler, Christine Crosby, Renata Pollini and Amandine Favier shared their insights, moderator Hannah Wise guided the participants through the event and Andri Weidmann organised the live stream.

This event was co-organized with AXA Switzerland and powered by Innosuisse.

 

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Virtual Thematic Event: Careers in Sustainability – Stories of Sustainability Professionals

April 19th, 2021

Demand for sustainable careers is on the rise. A trend that won’t let up in the coming years. We currently see an unprecedented number of companies and institutions making commitments to cut emissions or become more sustainable in general. All of them will have to come up with concrete action plans to make those commitments a reality soon and they won’t be able to do it alone! 

At this thematic event we were joined by the MBA program of the University of St. Gallen to get inspired by and for careers in sustainability. Together, we addressed questions, such as: What does a career in sustainability look like? What possibilities are there? How do I educate myself and take the first steps? How can I get the courage to do what I know to be right?

In this interactive Zoom event, we heard stories from people who work in sustainability and come from different backgrounds and work in different fields / sectors, including large companies, financial institutions, NGOs and startups. Guest speakers Neelke Verhelst from Barry Callebaut Group, Ladina Schröter from Planted, Anian Schreiber from Koa Group, Sabine Loetscher from LafargeHolcim, Erik Gloerfeld from Yova Impact Investing, Barbara Spiegel from Quantis International, Robert Boer from Blue Horizon Corporation and Liesbeth Deddens from Climeworks  shared their reasons for choosing that path, the hurdles and challenges that they faced and how they managed to overcome them.

 

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Virtual Thematic Event: From Linear to Circular

March 25th, 2021

The circular economy is a key vehicle for companies to reduce their carbon emissions and achieve their climate protection goals. We discuss what steps companies can take, what has been learnt in the last decade about circular solutions in various sectors, what should be prioritised and what the challenges are to do so. 

A recent joint report by WWF and PwC finds that “Switzerland is – at least in theory – well placed to address its unsustainable consumption patterns and perhaps even become a circular economy leader by making the most of its innovation, investment and sustainability potential.” Further the report says that “the circular economy opportunity represents a multi-billion-franc opportunity for Swiss businesses as well as promising social and environmental benefits.”

According to another report from 2021, the Circularity Gap Report, states that “circular economy strategies can cut global greenhouse gas emissions by 39% and help avoid climate breakdown.”

But what is holding businesses and societies back from implementing changes to move away from a linear and towards a circular economy? And what are some of the successes in the circular economy that we can celebrate?

At our thematic event, a joint event with our partners WWF and the One Planet Lab, we explored these questions and highlighted the related challenges and successes. We were joined by expert speakers Patricia Matzdorf-Gobeli from WWF Switzerland, Caspar von Daniels from Circle Economy, Gloria Luzzani from CCRS, UZH and Tom Koch from Rytec AG.

In case you missed their inputs, you can find recordings on our Youtube channel. 

 

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Virtual Informal Drinks: World Water Day

March 22nd, 2021

Access to clean water and sanitation for all is essential for life. In Switzerland, clean water is a given. However, this is not the case in many parts of the world. At this point in time, one in three people worldwide do not have access to safe drinking water and two out of five people do not have a basic hand-washing facility with water and soap available to them. Yet, global freshwater demand  is rising, and so is water scarcity. The pandemic has added urgency to this already pressing matter.

World Water Day has been observed on March 22nd for almost 30 years. It’s purpose is to educate the public on issues of concern, to mobilize resources and political will, and to reinforce and celebrate the achievements made so far. It offers an institutional platform for environmental activists and professionals from other areas alike to gather their interests and make their efforts visible.

In the spirit of World Water Day, this GreenBuzz Virtual Informal Drinks Event  highlighted what is being done, here and now, and focused on tangible steps that can be taken to tackle the sometimes overwhelming challenge of ensuring safe access to clean water for all.

We were delighted to be joined by Samuel Renggli from Wasser für Wasser (WfW) for this event and to learn how they are promoting  safe access to drinking water and sanitation for all.

You can find a recording of his input via this link.

 

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Virtual Thematic Event: To Engage or Divest? Strategies to Solve This ESG Investors’ Dilemma

March 11th, 2021

The most important dilemma that ESG investors are faced with is the question of whether to boycott environmentally harmful companies or to enter into dialogue with them – in other words, whether to simply divest or to engage with them. 

State Street Global Advisors (SSGA), the world’s third largest asset manager, said that they expect this to be a hotly debated issue in 2021. As environmental damage triggered or exacerbated by climate change increases around the globe, public pressure on companies to mitigate environmental damage and to promote social sustainability through their activities is growing. For (ESG) investors, this inevitably leads to the question of how to deal with investments in shares of companies that harm the environment or society.

A recent report published in the Financial Times states that divestment, which was historically understood as a pressure tactic reserved for students and religious investors, has become an issue that the world’s biggest asset managers can no longer ignore. 

Big names have brought divestment to the centre stage. For example BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, announced a year ago that it would eliminate any companies that generate a quarter of their revenues from thermal coal production from its active investment portfolios. Others have made similar announcements. 

But divestment has its downsides. Investors stand to lose their voice as a stakeholder and the stock may be bought by less ESG focused investors. So whether to divest or engage – or execute a combined strategy – is a key question for ESG investors at the moment.

At this Virtual Thematic Event, our expert speakers Taeun Kwon, Ellen Quigley, Julian Kölbel, Matthias Narr and Emma Farrell addressed this dilemma. They shared their insights and different standpoints on the topic and dove into discussions with participants.

You can watch their inputs via this link.

 

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GreenBuzz Zurich x One Planet Lab: How to Host Brilliant Online Events

February 25th, 2021

During 2020, all organisations were forced to move their meetings and events online – GreenBuzz included. Over the course of last year, we have hosted over 20 online events. And we have made it our mission to make sure our virtual events are just as engaging and interactive as our physical events.

Together with our partner, the One Planet Lab, we presented several organizations and startups who over the last year have created brilliant ways of getting together virtually. Our very own events manager, Rachel Dale, was joined by Erin Duddy of the CSP, Nathalie Sameli of THE SAME Productions & Films, and Nick Owen of wtv. They all shared their learnings and experiences from organizing online events during the turbulent year that was 2020.

The participants then engaged in group discussions on questions such as: What are main learnings from and challenges with organizing online events? What makes an online event engaging, productive and successful? What are some of the technologies that can be used?

You can rewatch the speakers’ inputs here.

 

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Virtual Informal Drinks: Engage or Divest? Strategies for Sustainable Investing

February 11th, 2021

The most important dilemma that investors are faced with is the question of whether to boycott environmentally harmful companies or to enter into dialogue with them – in other words, whether to simply divest or to engage with them.

As environmental damage triggered or exacerbated by climate change increases around the globe, public pressure on companies to mitigate environmental damage and to promote social sustainability through their activities is growing. For investors, this inevitably leads to the question of how to deal with investments in shares of companies that harm the environment or society.

Our guest speaker Lisa Lange of Federated Hermes gave a short speaker input on her experience as an engagement specialist, then the participants took part in group discussions and networking.

 

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Virtual Workshop: How to Build A Sustainable Business Model!

February 10th, 2021

We are at a turning point where it is clear that business-as-usual can no longer be tolerated. It is necessary to foster responsible innovation and create business units that can both create economic value for the company and have a positive impact on society and the environment.

Taking account of this, our workshop prepared participants to get started on building their sustainable business models. Participants learned to identify how other organizations have created successful sustainable business models, to implement a methodology which serves as a guide to consider sustainability in business ideas, and to  understand the frameworks of business innovation: Design Thinking, Lean Startup and Agile.

The workshop was organized by Martha Velasco and Roy Franke, founders and managing directors of 2get-there. 2get-there offers extensive experience working with organizations from different countries in the design and development of trainings, coaching, project management and consulting tailored-made to the client’s needs.

 

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Virtual New Year’s Drinks: Hot Sustainability Topics 2021!

January 26th, 2021

2021 brings hope for new opportunities and changes.

We are excited to have a GreenBuzz agenda that will cover hot sustainability topics including the move to NetZero, use of Hydrogen as a new energy source, digitisation to fight climate change, circular economy and whether we should invest or divest in certain funds!

At this informal drinks event, over 50 sustainability enthusiasts from the GreenBuzz Zurich and GreenBuzz Berlin networks joined the discussion on the most important issues of 2021. The discussions were facilitated by our topic experts and started off by an inspiring input by GreenBuzz president Stephen Neff.

If you’re in need of that little push of inspiration to get you going, you can watch his speech on our Youtube channel.

 

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Virtual New Year’s Thematic Event: Inspiration for A Decade for Change

January 14th, 2021

In our conversations with our members, some themes and challenges are recurring. For example “How can we convince our community to move in a sustainable direction? How can I convince my co-workers and management that sustainability needs to be a priority? How do I educate myself and take the first steps? How can I get the courage to do what I know to be right?” 

The world needs us to act this year in order to reverse biodiversity loss, reverse climate change and promote equality. But it can be overwhelming and hard to take the first steps and know what these should be. 

Over 60 people from the GreenBuzz and B Lab networks came together to listen to inspiring stories from a diverse & engaging group of guest speakers, to take part in discussions and to network. Let’s continue the discussions on and offline & work together to bring about faster sustainable change.

We have recorded all the speakers and the inputs can be accessed through the links below:

• Anian Schreiber
• Barbara Luchsinger
• Frederic Haas
• Matthias Narr
• Marie Griesmar
• Pauline Treis
• Res Witschi
• Vanessa Rueber

 

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Virtual Thematic Event: Sustainable Buildings – Making Retrofitting the New New

December 1st, 2020

In Switzerland, buildings account for 44% of final energy demand, with an equal share of CO₂ emissions. Decarbonizing the building sector is one of the key focuses of the Swiss Energy Strategy. 

The main barriers for private homeowners to renovate are attributed to the split incentive problem for landlords and tenants, the high upfront costs of energy-efficiency investments, among others. 

Additionally, it is important to point out that in the Swiss real estate market, large-scale investors hold the large share of annual building investments (56%) and will play a significant role in increasing the retrofitting rate. 

Technologically, the solutions are available, yet implementation and policy is lagging. At this thematic event, we discussed what building owners, policymakers, and large-scale investors can do to accelerate and implement sustainable renovations. 

We have recorded all the speakers and the inputs can be accessed through the links below:

• Christina Nakhle
• Evan Petkov
• André Perronnet
• Marcel Brülisauer

 

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Virtual Informal Drinks: Impact Washing – How to Spot and How to Avoid

November 25th, 2020

There has been a recent growth in the popularity of so-called “impact” investments, which aim to increase positive benefits to society and marry social or environmental outcomes with financial returns. However, the rise in demand of impact investments also comes with a risk: impact washing. 

Like “green washing”, impact washing is thus used by organisations to claim to be more environmentally friendly than they actually are. At this informal drinks event, we had Paul Hailey from responsAbility discuss the implications of this!

Access the recorded speaker input.

 

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Virtual Thematic Event: The Responsible Business Initiative – A Gamechanger for Sustainable Development, or Not?

November 10th, 2020

How should international corporations headquartered in Switzerland be held accountable for their activities abroad?

At this virtual thematic event, we discussed this question with regards to the responsible business initiative (“Konzernverantwortungsinitiative”), which will come to a vote in Switzerland on November 29th, 2020. This popular initiative aims to legally oblige international corporations headquartered in Switzerland to a mandatory set of rules when it comes to the enforcement of human rights and environmental protection in their activities abroad. 

We had an even panel of proponents and opponents of the initiative discuss the consequences of both, the upcoming vote and the Swiss government’s counter-proposal, for sustainable development and Swiss businesses.

We have recorded all the speakers and the inputs can be accessed through the links below:

• Samuel Schweizer
• Silvan Wildhaber
• Sibylle Baumgartner
• Isabelle Schluep
• Manuel Rotzinger

 

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Virtual Unconference: Migration – Underrepresented But Key to Achieving the SDGs

October 27th, 2020

Even though the relationship between migration and the SDGs is increasingly recognized, it is still an underexplored issue, and the implementation of existing programmes of support for migrants is often insufficient.

This is a problem considering that migrants are often economically very active, a source of cultural diversity, and thereby significantly contribute to innovation and economic growth. An example for this is Switzerland, as migration is integral to the Swiss economy and businesses. 

At this virtual unconference, we discussed the relationship between migration and the SDGs and the role of migration in the context of Switzerland.

We have recorded all the speakers and the inputs can be accessed through the links below:

• Kristina Touzenis
• Marie Froehlicher

 

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Thematic Event: Food Production & Technology – Greener Together?

October 6th, 2020

Technology is often perceived to conflict with sustainable food production. However, there has been growing interest in green farming technologies and their potential to make agriculture more sustainable. Many of these technologies are still in early development stages. However they are evolving at impressive rates and could soon revolutionize our food production systems. 

At this thematic event, we discussed the future of sustainable food production with our five speakers Frederic Hemmeler, Rafael Waber, Urs Niggli, Pierre Kauffmann and Frits Vranken. The event was moderated  by Mounia Boujija. One of the key takeaways from the event: “Agriculture is not romantic.” – Urs Niggli.

Here are the links to the presentations and some pictures that we took during the event.

 

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Informal Drinks: Road to Regeneration – Resilience Through Networking

October 1st, 2020

The Covid-19 pandemic created an unprecedented shock to the global economy. Lockdowns brought economic activity to a standstill with catastrophic consequences especially in countries with less resilient economies.

In the developed economies, governments and central banks are stepping in with large support and stimulus packages. In the developing world these support activities are scarce and the poor are hit unproportionally hard. 

At this informal drinks, we had Rachel Joyce-Gibbons and Dirk Dijksma discuss the implications of this.

We have recorded all the speakers and the inputs can be accessed through the links below:

• Rachel Joyce-Gibbons
• Dirk Dijksma

 

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Virtual Unconference: Equality and Why It’s Integral to Sustainability

September 17th, 2020

Even though there are some positive signs of reduced inequality, such as income equality in some countries and preferential trade status benefiting lower-income countries, inequality still persists in all forms. Unfortunately, the current pandemic is an exacerbating factor for inequalities and is hitting the most vulnerable people and countries the hardest.

At this Unconference, we discussed the role of (gender) equality in sustainable development and the connection between equality and the economy.

We have recorded all the speakers and the inputs can be accessed through the links below:

• Aysha van de Paer
• Jan Reynders

 

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Thematic Event: How Can Tourism Become a Force For Good?

September 10th, 2020

At this Thematic Event, we heard from experts on how the tourism industry is looking at the future and what is being done to address the necessary shifts to stay within the planetary boundaries. Our biggest take-away from the night: always start by asking WHY before you start working on the HOW of making your business more sustainable!

We again thank our speakers Luigi Cabrini, Franziska Altenrath, Daniela Schöb, Alexandra Pastollnigg, and Dr. Carlos Martin-Rios, as well as our moderator John Duncan for their insightful inputs. We would also like to thank Switzerland Tourism for hosting the event, Äss-Bar GmbH for sponsoring delicious pastries, and Swisscontact for offering the photo booth.

Here are the links to  the presentations and some pictures that our photographer Michele McCoig took during the event.

 

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Anniversary Summer Party: Celebrate 10 Years of GreenBuzz Zurich with us!

August 20th, 2020

This year’s GreenBuzz Summer Party was in particular exciting as we celebrated 10 years of GreenBuzz Zurich! Moreover, our GreenBuzz community was excited to reconnect and network at this first in-person event since the Covid-19 pandemic started.

For the third year in a row, it was held in a lovely Zurich park by the lake. Around 100 buzzers joined us for an apéro and light evening program. With our ‘experience auction’, where GreenBuzz members and start-ups donated experiences to be auctioned off, we raised money for the purpose of financing our next intern. Furthermore, we heard five interesting quick pitches from young sustainable organizations and start-ups. Quick pitches were given by: Crick, Arbofino, Pabhoi Greens, IMS, Proactively, Grownate, and Crowdcontainer.

Photographers Dawna Mueller and Hitsch captured the evening very nicely. See the full photo album here.

We are excited to see what the next 10 years will bring!

 

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Virtual Unconference: How to Succeed in Switzerland’s Energy Transition

July 7th, 2020

This interactive event informed attendees about where Switzerland stands in terms of progressing on the energy transition. Our experts addressed the issue at hand from a holistic perspective, with a focus on decarbonizing the building and transportation sectors. Furthermore, we discussed various solutions that should be focused on from this point on to accelerate the transition.

We have recorded all the speakers and the inputs can be accessed through the links below:

• Massimiliano Capezzali
• Sandra Klinke
• Christian Bach

 

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GreenBuzz Joint Event: Post Covid-19 – Our Opportunity for a More Sustainable World

June 25th, 2020

For the first time, the GreenBuzz chapters Zurich, Bern, Geneva and Berlin came together for a joint virtual event!

Throughout this global crisis that we are currently in, it has become increasingly clear that environmental, social and governance sustainability need to be a priority, now more than ever! The crisis has shone a light on the drawbacks and injustices of our global (economic) systems.

With our global community we discussed the important topic of ‘sustainability after Covid-19’ and how we can make sure it is still a priority!

We have recorded all the speakers and the inputs can be accessed through the links below:

• Falko Patzold
• Jonathan Normand
• Rudy Aernoudt
• Sabine Döbeli
• Meera Ghani
• Henrik Nordborg

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Virtual Informal Drinks: Gender Lens Investing – Hype or Opportunity?

June 11th, 2020

SDG 5 calls for gender equality. The financial industry however, has typically been led by men and focused on men as the main investors. It is time to change this to ensure women are represented both as investors and recipients of funding to build the economy and improve the lives of women.

It is well documented that companies with gender diversity in leadership positions outperform ones that do not, so investing in these companies makes financial sense. At this informal drinks we were able to discuss the reasons of gender inequality in the financial sector and how we can challenge and finally overcome it.

You can view Olga Miller‘s input online here.

 

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Virtual Unconference: Can Covid-19 Create Positive Momentum for Systems Change?

May 26th, 2020

More than ever, we feel how urgently we need to change the systems, which we have been living in and been part of. Covid-19 has shone a light on some of the uncomfortable truths and issues of, for example, our economic system or the complex value and supply chains that are an integral part of our consumer society.

GreenBuzz brought together professionals with different backgrounds to talk about the implications of the Covid-19 crisis and if this crisis creates momentum for systems change. Several topics and concrete examples of systems change were discussed that resulted in fruitful ideas to follow up.

 

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Virtual Thematic Evening: EU Action Plan – A Gamechanger for the Financial Industry

May 12th, 2020

Considering the worldwide importance of the European financial centres, sustainable finance measures adopted by the EU will not only affect EU-based institutions, but also those incorporated outside the EU serving or seeking to serve European clients. This means that Swiss players also have to comply with these sustainable finance regulation standards, and they have the potential to lead the way with contributing towards achieving these sustainability goals.

GreenBuzz brought together experts in the area to inform how the new legislative measures of the EU Action plan will affect how we conduct business and facilitated the discussion about the challenges and opportunities associated with the new sustainable finance regulation.

 

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Virtual Informal Drinks: Pesticide-Free Agriculture

May 7th, 2020

At this informal drinks interesting and relevant questions regarding agriculture and the use of pesticides were dicsussed. We had inputs from expert on the field and discussed what the key challenges are of reducing pesticides in agriculture, how all actors of food value chain can be integrated in the process and how new agriculture production systems can guarantee food supply for a growing number of people worldwide – while becoming more sustainable.

 

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Virtual Unconference: Prioritize Your Organization’s Efforts to Tackle Climate Change

April 28th, 2020

Participants play the leading role in an ‘Unconference’: The specific discussion topics are determined by the participants, based on real cases and experiences. The participants were therefore able to discuss a wide range of different topics regarding how to approach and priotitize an organization’s effort to tackle climate change.

During the discussions we had inputs from climate change experts and an input about the Project Drawdown, an international research organization that analyses, and identifies the most viable global climate change solutions and shares these findings openly with the world.

 

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GreenBuzz x plus305 Virtual Workshop: Intercultural Competence

April 7th, 2020

In this workshop the participants gained new insights about intercultural competence and how to implement measurements towards a more inclusive working culture. Sustainability leaders play an important role in achieving the UN’s SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals). SDG 10 concerns reducing inequalities, meaning “the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status.”

This workshop was co-organized by GreenBuzz Zurich and the Social Impact Boutique PLUS305.

 

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Virtual Informal Drinks: EU Action Plan

April 2nd, 2020

This event is part of GreenBuzz’s Informal Drinks Series that is specially tailored for finance professionals in Zurich who want to learn from fellow professionals and share experiences regarding hot sustainability topics in the finance sector.

During an informal virtual pub crawl the new sustainable finance regulations of the EU Action Plan, its meaning for the finance world and opportunities regarding sustainable business were discussed.

 

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GreenBuzz x Polarstern Virtual Workshop: Sustainability Communication

March 26th & April 30th, 2020

Communicating about sustainability to stakeholders is a complex task – it requires a great deal of planning and a good understanding of your stakeholders’ needs and attitudes. Andreas Renggli  introduced us to Polarstern’s “Sustainability Communication Canvas”. The Canvas helps you to understand the key elements of sustainability communication, which, in turn, will allow you to follow a clear strategic approach.

The workshop was co-organized by GreenBuzz Zurich and Polarstern Communication Agency.

 

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Art Excursion

March 4th & 11th, 2020

On two occasions, GreenBuzz organized a tour through the exhibition by the Danish-icelandic artist, Olafur Eliassion at Kunsthaus Zürich and subsequently shared interesting discussions over some drinks.

For Eliasson, art must also be relevant to society. Issues such as climate change, migration and the exploitation of our planet’s resources are central to his work. He successfully translates these essential themes and social concerns into a formal language that not only appeals to people rationally but also touches them emotionally and moves them physically.

 

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Moderator Training: Unconferences

February 27th, 2020

The ‘UNconference’ is a proven open space format, in which the participants play the leading role: The specific discussion topics are determined by the participants, based on real cases and experiences. This active role of the participants fuels their motivation, creativity and collaborative sides.

Campaign strategist and seasoned open space convener Duane Raymond teached how to facilitate unconferences, e.g. how to motivate the participants, what to focus on before and during an unconference, and most importantly, how to be productive and effective in an open format such as unconferences!

 

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Innovation Breakfast: Blended Finance – Mobilizing Private Capital for Impact

February 6th, 2020

GreenBuzz brought together experts from industry, academia, government and philanthropy to discuss sustainable financial investments and especially the concept of blended finance. Our financial experts of CSP, responsAbility, UBS optimus fundation and SECO inspired us with their expertise.

Here are the photos, presentations and questions that were discussed.

 

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GreenBuzz x CSP Informal Drinks with Special Guests – Ecosystem Restoration

January 31st, 2020

Ecosystem Restoration is on many people’s mind at the moment, seeing the tremendous long-term ecosystem damage caused by the Australian bushfires that are haunting Australia at the moment. Our special guests a farmer, an ecosystem restoration expert and a leader in tree planting inspired us by the important work they are doing. The event was hosted by GreenBuzz and our partner CSP (Center for Sustainable Finance and Privat Wealth of the University of Zurich) at Amboss Rampe.

 

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Thematic Evening: Towards a Circular Plastics Economy

January 23rd, 2020

We started 2020 discussing the urgent need to move towards a circular Plastics economy.  We had over 110 GreenBuzz members and guests join Industry leaders from Lush, Migros and the WBCSD, Start up initiatives – Innovopolis and Fluidsolids hosted at WWF.

Here are the photos, presentations and questions that were discussed.

 

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GreenBuzz Annual Christmas Party with Earthling Ed

December 12th, 2019

This year’s Annual Christmas Dinner was a special one; for one because we had a very special guest and because we were at a special location!

We are very happy to have had Earthling Ed aka Ed Winters join us at the dinner and talk to us about how our diets impact climate change. Earthling Ed is an internationally known vegan spokesperson, author, public speaker and filmmaker. He is a wonderful speaker and inspiration and we are hoping to be able to welcome him at future GreenBuzz events, too!

The dinner was held at Wirtschaft Ziegelhütte, beautifully located on the edge of the woods up on a hill. We were served a, designed especially for us, 5-course vegetarian / vegan tasting menu.

 

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Co-Creation Workshop: Get Engaged with The One Planet Hub

December 5th, 2019

The One Planet Hub (OPH) – the future competence centre for resource-light projects and business models – will launch in autumn 2020. GreenBuzz and Föifi Zero-Waste Shop have been working with WWF Switzerland to develop the OPH’s service offerings, governance and strategy.

On the 5th of December, we challenged what we’d developed and asked over 60 participants from the start-up, grassroots initiative, foundation and business world for their opinion on the OPH. Their feedback is now being incorporated in the final OPH project plan!

Look at the photo album, the presentations and learn more about The One Planet Hub!

 

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Workshop: ESG Implementation 

November 19th, 2019

As multiple stakeholder groups are demanding better and more transparent ESG performance, the pressure on businesses increases. In this workshop, Claudia Würstle from HCM International and Tamara Teves from MME Legal taught us about four concrete action points for implementing ESG:

1. Define your key ESG topics;
2. Formulate your longterm strategy;
3. Get your employees on board;
4. Hold management accountable.

We also learnt about possible pitfalls and how to avoid them when implementing ESG initiatives.

See the full presentation here.

 

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Co-Creation Lunch: Business Stakeholders of the One Planet Hub

November 7th, 2019

GreenBuzz Zurich is working together with WWF Switzerland on developing a new project that is set to launch in autumn 2020 – The One Planet Hub (OPH). The OPH will be a competence centre for resource-light grassroots initiatives, projects and business models.

In November 2019, we organised several Co-Creation Lunches, bringing together experts in a particular field to challenge our ideas and plans for the OPH with them.

On November 7th, we brought together a powerful group of senior business people to discuss the planned OPH offering for business stakeholders. In the room, we had representatives from Migros Engagement, RobecoSAM, MyClimate, Hyatt Hotels, UBS Global Visionaries, Barry Callebaut, IBM Switzerland, BASF, Anheuser-Busch InBev and Climate-KIC.

Keep an eye out for more One Planet Hub news!

 

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GreenBuzz x WWF Impact Lunch: Climate Youth 

October 31st, 2019

In the end of October, we had our second joint GreenBuzz x WWF Sexy Salad Lunch (Brown Bag Lunch principle) of the year, where members of the GreenBuzz community and WWF employees come together to brainstorm about a particular challenge over a delicious lunch.

This time the challenge posed by WWF was: What can WWF Switzerland do to support the young climate movement?

GreenBuzz also invited representatives from the climate movement. There were many young people and one ‘official’ spokesperson from the Climate Strike Switzerland.

See all the pictures here.

 

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Thematic Evening: Energy Transition in Switzerland

October 29th, 2019

In October, around 80 people from the energy sector or with a strong interest in renewables met at the WWF Switzerland offices to hear from experts where we stand regarding the energy transition in Switzerland, and how we can fill the projected energy gap emerging from moving away from fossil fuels.

The four speaker represented different perspectives on the energy question and sometimes had contradicting opinions, which led to engaged discussions.

Read more about the speakers, look at the pictures and the presentations.

 

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Innovation Breakfast: Mobility and Spatial planning

October 2nd, 2019

Mobility and Spatial planning is key to the way in which we will live, travel and work in a sustainable way in the future. We had some excellent inputs from

Linus Grob, strategy planner at SBB, Andrea Del Duce, senior research associate at ZHAW, Claudio Büchel Professor für Verkehrsplanung at HSR Hochschule für Technik Rapperswil, Daniel Sutter, Geschäftsleiter, Partner bei INFRAS and Han Van de Wetering, Owner / Urban engineer at Van de Wetering Atelier für Städtebau.

This lead to an engaging discussion about the effects of densification and the importance of mobility hubs. The discussion led to more questions including:

“How do we design the movement of cargo so that towns are desirable to live and work in?”, “How can mobility hubs be created within the already well developed and densely populated areas around stations?”, “How can all stakeholders who own property in less densely populated spaces be convinced to adapt to a sustainable living model?”

Read more about our speakers, see the presentations and the pictures.

 

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Innovation Breakfast: Sustainability Communication

September 26th, 2019

At this innovation breakfast, we had a powerful line-up of communication experts who shared their insights on how to communicate sustainability to external stakeholders.

Inputs were given by Philipp Bachmann from the University of Zurich, Margreet Groot from Mondelez International, Gabriel Hansmann from Globalance Bank, Andreas Renggli from Polarstern Agentur, Daniel Krieg from KSP Werbeagentur, Manuela Huck-Wettstein from Sustainserv and Robert Dornau from RobecoSAM.

Some of the main take-aways from the innovation breakfast were:

• Do not use the word “sustainability” when communicating about sustainability to customers;
• Always find and focus on positive ways of communicating sustainability;
• Understand the stakeholder your communicating to as aware and knowledgeable.

This innovation breakfast resulted in several follow-up workshops that allow participants to dive deeper into the topic of sustainability communication!

Thank you to all contributors, the host of the event RobecoSAM and the great moderator, Simon Sudbury, for this successful event!

Read more about our speakers, see the full photo album and all the presentations.

 

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Unconference for Sustainability Professionals

September 18th, 2019

At the second GreenBuzz Zurich unconference, 30+ sustainability professionals came together to discuss challenges they’re facing in their profession. The unconference is an open-format ‘conference’, meaning that the topics / challenges, that were discussed in small break-out groups, were chosen by the participants themselves. Some of the very interesting topics that were chosen are: How can we talk about the need for a systems change? Regeneration – is sustainability passé? How can automation support sustainability? Determining & communicating the financial / business value of sustainability efforts. How can sustainability drive innovation? And many more!

Duane Raymond did a wonderful job hosting the unconference, as did Neelke Verhelst from Barry Callebaut as his co-host.

This unconference was so successful and, according to the feedback of the participants, valuable that we decided to organize regular unconferences from now on!

Read more about our speakers, see the pictures and the presentation.

 

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Annual Summer Party 2019

August 22nd, 2019

This year’s GreenBuzz summer party was a great success. For the second year in a row, it was held in a lovely Zurich park by the lake. Around 100 buzzers joined us for an apéro and light evening program. With our ‘experience auction’, where GreenBuzz (team) members donated experiences to be auctioned off, we raised money for the purpose of financing our next intern. Furthermore, we heard five interesting quick pitches from young sustainable organizations and start-ups. Quick pitches were given by: Haelixa, Wayste, Wood and Field, My Blue Planet and Too Good To Go. The food was kindly donated to us by Alnatura.

Photographers Dawna Mueller and Christian Rogantini captured the evening very nicely. See the full photo album here.

 

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Blockchain for Sustainable Supply Chains

June 20th, 2019

Around 100 buzzers attended this thematic evening on the topic of the blockchain technology and how it can be used for sustainable supply chains. Inspiring inputs were given by Micha Roon, a senior blockchain technology expert and advisor from the Share&Charge Foundation, Philipp Spaeti, CTO of IBM Switzerland, Sabine Loetscher, Senior Manager of Sustainable Markets at WWF Switzerland and Harald Rauter, Senior Innovation Specialist at Climate-KIC. The audience was highly engaged in the topic and participated in motivated discussions and networking at the Apéro following the presentations. Issues and challenges regarding transparency, traceability and trust in connection with blockchain applications were raised. At the same time, the chances and opportunities of the blockchain technology were highlighted.

See the full event photo album and the presentations.

 

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Drinks at WWF Switzerland offices

May 14th, 2019

Informal Drinks with GreenBuzz Zurich is always a great opportunity to meet new people and exchange ideas. We like to curate the networking to ensure people meet as many people with shared interests as possible. During this week’s event for example, we had a one-minute rotating introduction session around the ‘globe’ at WWF’s head offices.

See the full photo album here.

 

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Mobility – Die Zukunft der Städtischen Mobilität

April 4th, 2019

There is a trend to reduce car ownership in Swiss cities, yet an increasing number of people are being transported between urban centers, agglomerations and rural regions. A breakfast hosted by GreenBuzz Zurich and SCCR CREST highlighted the tension between new means of transport (such as shared electric scooters) and public transport. More work needs to be done, but it is part of GreenBuzz’s mission to bring together parties to find solutions. 

See the full photo album and the presentations.

 

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Construction Materials Matter

April 2nd, 2019

We had over 60 people Buzzing about sustainable construction materials. With 40% of CO2 emissions coming from constructing and running buildings, this is a vital discussion that we are continuing to facilitate.

See the full photo album and the presentations.

 

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Climate-Friendly Business Events

February 26th, 2019

On Tuesday, 26th of February we had a very inspiring breakfast about climate-friendly business events at the Kulturpark. We addressed this topic from different perspectives with guest speakers Uta Kroll, Head of the convention bureau of Zürich Tourism, Frank Marreau, Managing Director of MCI Switzerland. and Anders Tellefsen, Director, Procurement Lead Marketing Meetings Travel EUCAN at Takeda Pharmaceuticals. We learned a lot about the challenges the different stakeholders of the business event industry are facing and had a very interactive discussion about how they could be approached.

See the full photo album and the presentations.

 

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GreenBuzz Apéro: Innovation against Food Waste – From Farm to Table

January 31st, 2019

Our Food Waste Apero was inspiring, very informative and as always buzzing. We learned about the challenges around food waste and brought impact to several innovative start up’s in this area. At the Apero, we provided overproduced food from John Baker, Soyana and Zum Guten Heinrich, allowing us to have a direct impact on Food Waste. We would like to thank Thomas Vellacott and Claudio Beretta for highlighting what is currently being done and where the big opportunities lie within fighting this field, as well as Fanny Brun, for her talk around the question “What is behind date labels?”. Additionally, we would like to thank Kitro, Toogoodtogo and Zurichips , three very innovative startups, for sharing how they are tackling food waste.

See the full photo album and the presentations.

 

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Meat the Future: The Path to Sustainable Plates

November 6th, 2018

What place does meat have in a sustainable food system? Can sustainable practices help reduce meat production’s footprint? How can we drive more sustainable consumption patterns? How can innovation and technology help towards a more sustainable protein supply chain? These questions and more were discussed at the event, with inputs from Manuel Klarmann (Eaternity), Thomas Rippel (former economist turned organic farmer), Bühler Group, and Blue Horizon. Food was prepared by celebrity vegan chef Lauren Wildbolz, and snacks and beverages were also offered by Hiltl, Beyond Meat, UMAMI, New Roots, ChariTea and Delinat

See the full photo album and the presentations.

 

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Addressing Your Climate Risks and Opportunities

November 7th, 2018

60 professionals met for a half day workshop hosted by South Pole. In response to the Paris Agreement, two initiatives around climate risks and opportunities are gaining traction: The Framework for Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) and Science Based Targets (SBT). Who is pushing for these initiatives? What are the implications for pension funds or corporations? And how do they interrelate? South Pole and GreenBuzz organised an exclusive meeting to discuss these questions and to outline a roadmap for organisations. The event was moderated by Bastien Girod (South Pole), and inputs were offered by Renat Heuberger (CEO, South Pole), Andreas Spiegel, Amandine Favier (Head of Sustainable Finance, WWF Schweiz), Franziska Sinner (Finance expert South Pole), Charlie Henderson (South Pole), Damian Oettli (WWF), and Heinz Hänni, (McDonald’s).

See the photo album and the presentations.

 

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Impact Investing: Beyond the Hype

October 7th, 2018

60 professionals met over breakfast at RobecoSAM to hear inputs from James Gifford, head of impact investing at UBS and Taeun Kwon, University of Zurich, and Jacob Messina, Head of Sustainability investing research at RobecoSAM . The event was hosted by Falko Paetzold, founder of GreenBuzz and Managing Director of  Center for Sustainable Finance and Private Wealth (CSP) at University of Zurich. Inputs were followed by interactive discussions with the individual speakers.

See the photo album and the presentations.

 

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