Lehrprogramm Integrative Sustainability Management (SuM-HSG)

Sustainability is a cross-functional capability. If you bring it to the table together with other skill sets learned at HSG, you do have a competitive advantage.

It was a pleasure to join the Impact Studio with UBS at HSG, which highlighted that credible transition plans are no longer assessed solely on ambition or disclosure quality, but how effectively climate considerations are embedded into core financial decision-making, across risk management, governance, capital allocation, and support for real-economy transition pathways. An interesting discussion point was how Scope 3 emissions continue to expose the limits of current data and methodologies, making credible portfolio-level transition measurement and accountability significantly more challenging.

Net-Zero-Transition bedeutet, Klimaziele mit Risikomanagement, regulatorischen Anforderungen und nachhaltigkeitsbezogener Kapitalal-lokation konsequent zu verbinden.

My background is rooted in finance and economics, which I've enriched over the course of my career with relevant expertise in transition themes and corporate sustainability assessment. Speaking with students at HSG who are deeply interested in sustainability topics highlighted how powerful interdisciplinary perspectives can be.

Collaborating directly with Switzerland's largest bank on a real sustainability strategy case was a truly unique experience. Having our strategies evaluated by Martijn Oosterwoud gave us firsthand insight into what makes a robust strategy in this space. What struck me most was how sustainability consulting operates on a fundamentally different logic than traditional consulting: the motivations, success factors, and trade-offs are distinct in ways that genuinely challenge you to reflect. This event didn't just offer a compelling case study, it made me seriously consider what a career driven by impact, rather than purely by profit, could look like.

What I particularly liked about the event was that the UBS genuinely showed interest in our findings and was open to critique.

One of my key takeaways was how a credible transition plan goes beyond disclosure and becomes a strategic tool to drive long-term value, particularly by linking sustainability targets more directly to core business areas of a global bank like UBS.

From Gerd Winandi-Martin we learned that an impact job is more of an add-on to a known job profile, and that to achieve it we have to focus on building general business acumen. From the case study afterwards with the UBS, what stood out us their voluntary commitment to reducing their footprint and that implementing reduction goals while business is growing poses a great challenge.

Sustainability also plays a key role in banking, and expectations have risen. The workshop gave me some surprising insights and helped me understand a little better what levers are available for a sustainable transition plan.