Building Bridges 2025: Aligning Finance with Sustainability

The event brought together a wide range of stakeholders — from the financial and private sectors to international organizations, academia, NGOs, and public institutions — all united by one goal: mobilizing capital for positive social and environmental impact.

Over three days, the conference featured more than 50 action events and three high-level plenaries, combining panels, workshops, and fishbowl discussions to exchange ideas, share experiences, and collectively chart the path toward a more sustainable future.

Representing the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), Ambassador Christian Frutiger, Head of Thematic Cooperation, spoke on two panels, sharing the SDC’s perspectives and expertise:

• Catalyzing SDG Financing: Unlocking the Potential of National Development Banks
• Unlocking Capital Flows: Solving Liquidity Challenges for Impact Investments in Emerging Markets

Peter Beez and Dr. Thierry Buchs, both Senior Policy Advisors in the Economy and Education Section, also participated as speakers in several events, including the Impact-Linked Finance Collaborative sessions alongside partners from Roots of Impact, Acumen and others where they shared insights on leveraging finance for stronger development outcomes, as well as in the session on Investment in Nutrition to De-risk Food Systems.

The conference also featured Federal Councillor Martin Pfister, who emphasized the interdependence between sustainability and security — noting that sustainability builds resilience, resilience strengthens security, and security fosters trust and stability. Setting the tone for the event, former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry highlighted the “power of investability” in driving systemic change.

Building Bridges continues to play a crucial role in uniting finance and development actors, fostering collaboration, and turning ambition into action for a sustainable global economy.