CdT interviews Massimo Filippini on sustainable investments

The UN climate change conference was recently held in Madrid from 2 to 13 December. To follow up on the subject, journalist Osvaldo Migotto from Corriere del Ticino interviewed Massimo Filippini, Professor in Economics and Energy Policy at USI and ETH Zurich. In the interview, Filippini talked about sustainable investments to protect our planet.

The journalist investigates on the areas in which it is possible to act in favour of sustainability. Among these, Filippini mentions the role played by banks, insurance companies and pension funds that, with their investment decisions in the financial markets, can promote sustainable development, reporting the example of Credit Suisse, which will no longer finance coal-fired power plants.

According to Filippini, raising public awareness of these issues and promoting opportunities for exchange and information is essential. With this in mind, USI Institute of Economics organises a series of conferences on the theme of "Energy, climate and sustainable development", for a chance to discuss the subject with experts. Thanks to a collaboration with the schools Lugano 1 and Locarno the conferences were open not only to USI students but also to high school students.

Another sector mentioned in the interview is real estate. Since the rate of building renovation in Switzerland is very low, there are fewer choices to adopt energy-efficient systems. Some studies by Filippini show that decisions taken in the energy sector are often made without a clear comparison between the cost of a sustainable solution and one that is not, and this is due to a lack of information and economic-financial skills. An example to encourage the choice of sustainable solutions, according to Filippini, could be the introduction of informative energy sticker on cars and household appliances that, in addition to the level of energy efficiency, provide information on the cost of purchasing and using a product.

Lastly, he comments on Switzerland 2050, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to zero, which cannot be achieved without the inclusion of energy policy measures. Taking transport as an example, Filippini mentioned as a possible measure to be taken, the inclusion of a CO2 tax on fuels, the proceeds of which are redistributed to the population.

Read the full interview by Osvaldo Migotto in attachment.