Sustainability is more than climate protection
Liechtenstein and its financial centre stand for sustainability. This has been well known for a long time. Less well known is the fact that it takes a holistic approach aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The “Liechtenstein Initiative” who aims to end human trafficking and modern slavery is prove of that as well as the Waterfootprint initiative.
The fight against climate change is rightly on everyone's lips at present. We need to transform the economy and society quickly and decisively. Only in this way climate change can be combatted successfully and the climate goals of Paris don’t remain just lip service. However, sustainability is more than “just” climate protection. The UN recognized this early on. In 2015, it adopted the 17 so-called Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). They provide a shared blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all. They aim at leaving no one behind. Liechtenstein’s holistic approach supports those goals
In two areas, Liechtenstein launched public-private partnership initiatives of a unique and pioneering character. The first is “Waterfootprint Liechtenstein” with its principle: “Drink tap water. Donate drinking water”. With this campaign, Liechtenstein is aiming at becoming the first country to provide access to clean drinking water to one suffering person for every resident. The Waterfootprint initiative is well on its way to achieving this target. The government, schools, all municipalities and numerous companies, amongst them all the big Liechtenstein banks as well as the Bankers Associations, support the initiative by refraining from purchasing bottled mineral water and using only domestic tap water.
The second lighthouse project is the so-called “Liechtenstein Initiative” which aims to end human trafficking and modern slavery. It is a partnership project between the Governments of Liechtenstein, Australia and the Netherlands along with the United Nations University Centre for Policy Research as well as a consortium of banks, philanthropic foundations, and associations. The LBA and its banks are part of this public private partnership – for good reasons. The United Nations (UN) assumes that today more than 40 million people either live in captivity, are exploited by forced labour or suffer another form of serfdom. The goods produced often end up in normal sales channels, for example as textiles or food. The International Labour Organization of the United Nations estimates that around 150 billion US dollars are traded annually worldwide through slave labour and human trafficking. And this is where the financial sector comes in. It can be associated in various ways with modern slavery and human trafficking. This can be done, for example, by handling money generated from such practices, or by financing goods and services whose supply chains include modern slavery or human trafficking. According to studies, modern slavery and human trafficking are the most common predicate offences to money laundering and terrorist financing in the world today.
Liechtenstein’s financial community and regulatory authorities have considerable expertise in combating illicit financial flows and hence can play a pioneering role in tacking human trafficking and modern slavery, be it through the promotion of a high due diligence standards, the development of responsible investments. In September 2019, during the 74th Session of the UN General Assembly, the Commission has released a blueprint for accelerated action to address modern slavery and human trafficking.