Sustainability and Climate Trends to Watch 2025
In a world that feels ever more uncertain, investors everywhere are looking for information that can give them an edge. Study after study shows that sustainability data can help identify more competitive, more profitable, less risky companies with higher long-term returns and a lower cost of capital.
The latter half of this decade will bring profound shifts, driven by geopolitics, disruptive technology breakthroughs and environmental challenges. Investors will need to contend with the sweeping effects of the energy transition on users and suppliers of energy, the escalating impact of climate-related events and new risks associated with the widespread adoption of AI across every sector of the economy.
Such unprecedented change brings unprecedented opportunity. The energy system transformation presents one of the most significant investment prospects of our time, with strong returns anticipated by many investors in low-carbon energy, green transportation and energy storage solutions, especially in private markets.
Bolstered by strong fundamentals and new sources of demand, 2025 could be a pivotal year for voluntary carbon markets, offering critical funding for decarbonization in developing countries. Meanwhile, climate-change adaptation finance, once the domain of governments, is also yielding investable opportunities for the private sector.
Beyond those themes, investors can systematically identify companies that are better-managed, more resilient and adaptable to change. Research by MSCI shows that firms managing material social risks — e.g., workforce issues, supply chains, product safety and community impact —consistently outperformed their peers.
Finally, growing momentum for shareholder rights —namely through a groundswell of support for majority voting — could offer public-market investors a greater ability to influence corporate behaviour and drive sustainable value creation.
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The key trends :
- Energy Transition Solutions
- Facing the reality of a changing climate
- The changing space of Sustainability Risk in Global Equity Markets
- GenAI Models: Then Data Buffet is closing
- Majority Voting for US Directors
- Will 2025 be a turning point for Carbon Markets
Source : MSCI ESG Research LLC
https://www.msci.com/research-and-insights/2025-sustainability-climate-trends-to-watch