BreakFree Suisse (also known as Collectif BreakFree Suisse) is a Swiss-based civil society collective founded in 2016 and headquartered in Geneva. The organisation advocates for social and climate justice by targeting the Swiss financial sector’s role in financing fossil fuel projects and associated human rights violations. Operating at the intersection of climate, biodiversity, and human rights, BreakFree Suisse combines grassroots activism, independent research, and coalition-building to hold major Swiss financial actors accountable for their contribution to the climate and biodiversity crises.

BreakFree Suisse’s core mission is to stop the financing of projects that drive the climate and biodiversity crises and disregard human rights. Its key demands include ending all financial support for fossil fuels, banning funding for new gas, oil, or coal projects, requiring financial institutions to take responsibility for climate-related investment risks, ensuring affected communities’ right to free, prior, and informed consent, and holding financial institutions accountable for damage caused to communities, land, and ecosystems based on their contribution to greenhouse gas emissions and biodiversity loss. Indigenous peoples and local communities are central allies in this work.

BreakFree Suisse operates as a volunteer-driven collective based in Geneva, Switzerland, and conducts its work in both English and French. It collaborates extensively with other climate organisations — including Greenpeace Switzerland, Reclaim Finance, Alliance Climatique Suisse, and Grève du Climat — and participates in international coalitions such as the Global Coalition of Peoples Facing Extractivism (GCPE), Stop Corporate Impunity, StopEACOP, and Protect Verde Island Passage. The organisation is funded through donations from individuals and supporters.

BreakFree Suisse runs targeted campaigns against specific Swiss financial actors, including the Swiss National Bank (SNB), UBS Group, Swiss insurance companies, and investment funds. A flagship programme is its Solidarity Tour, which brings representatives of communities impacted by fossil fuel projects financed by Swiss institutions to Switzerland and Europe to amplify frontline voices. The organisation also conducts and publishes independent research and reports on Swiss financial actors’ fossil fuel investments and human rights exposures. Additional activities include public events, educational workshops, direct action campaigns, and high-profile advocacy efforts such as the #RogerWakeUp campaign, which urged Roger Federer to cut ties with Credit Suisse over its fossil fuel financing.