If someone told us a year ago that we'd be here today — watching the biggest banks abandon green commitments, climate metrics vanish from executive pay, and Europe's sustainable finance framework put on political life support — we might've laughed. Or cried.

And yet, here we are.

The Quiet Unraveling

In Brussels, spirits remain cautiously watchful — though the signs left and right point to a quiet but steady unraveling of the sustainable finance architecture built over the past five years. The Omnibus Proposal, presented by the European Commission as a "simplification" exercise, is moving ahead. And while no laws have yet changed, all indicators suggest that resistance to this weakening is nowhere near strong enough to stop it. Let's be honest: we're now mostly hoping it won't get worse than what's currently on the table.

What's worrying is how quickly the effects are becoming real. Companies across the EU are pressing pause on CSRD implementation. Startups that blossomed around sustainability compliance — reporting tools, data engines, assurance tech — are now pivoting or quietly folding. Inside banks, many in Switzerland, we've heard story after story of sustainability teams being dismantled while public messaging remains unchanged. "We're still committed," they say — as they sunset the very teams tasked with delivering that commitment.

The mood? Disoriented. Cautious. Not quite a panic — more like an existential shrug.

Corporate Retreat

Case in point: Aviva Investors, once hailed for putting 30 fossil-heavy companies on a 1.5°C "watch list," has now walked back its divestment promise. The reason? The "macro backdrop" has changed. They're not alone — UBS, HSBC, and Standard Chartered have scaled down green incentives in executive pay. bp dropped transition bonuses altogether.

Meanwhile, US companies are scrubbing climate language from their websites. Walmart deleted its section on being "deeply committed to climate change." Kraft Heinz and others have "streamlined" their ESG disclosures. It's 2025 — and corporate climate action is being rebranded, and according to these companies: "not reversed."

The Plot Twist

And yet — here's the twist.

The demand for sustainability data hasn't disappeared. Banks still want it. Investors still expect it. Truly sustainable companies — the ones that mean it — still want to report. Not because the EU tells them to. Because it's a mark of trust, strategy, and credibility.

As John Kerry reminded us recently, the energy transition doesn't wait. Renewables accounted for 90% of new electricity capacity in the US last year. Global clean energy spending has hit $2 trillion — twice that of fossil fuels. The CEOs of Ford, GM, VW, and Mercedes? They've already retooled their factories. They're not going back — because it makes business sense.

And that brings us to this uncomfortable truth:

At SWISOX, we've always believed sustainable finance must rest on data, transparency, and trust. We rely on civil society, journalists, and NGOs to uncover risks, track progress, and keep markets honest. Their work is part of our due diligence — it helps us decide what belongs in our sustainable marketplace.

Because without oversight, finance is blind to risk. Without reporting, investors are flying blind. Without public pressure, we lose the momentum that brought us here in the first place.

Bottom-Up Leadership

So what now?

Now is the time for bottom-up leadership.

We can't outsource sustainability. The finance industry may have lost its faith — but we don't have to. The tools still exist. The companies still exist. The transition still makes business sense.

We just have to choose to keep going. And that means educating ourselves, holding each other accountable, and investing — wisely, ambitiously, and with purpose.

Because if we don't take the transition into our own hands, no one else will.