Investor support for prioritizing climate change is rising again, as concerns around energy security accelerate the renewable energy transition, and as the physical effects of global warming are increasingly felt. It marks a turning point after several years of declining commitments, the Robeco Global Climate Investing Survey 2026 shows.
The sixth annual survey of 300 investors shows they are realistic about climate goals, with most forecasting a ‘too little, too late’ scenario that cannot achieve the Paris Agreement’s aim of limiting global warming to well below 2 °C. A majority across Europe, Asia-Pacific (APAC) and North America already see physical climate risks affecting both asset prices and their own strategic asset allocation in the next few years.
Yet there is also resilience, as most investors remain broadly committed to their own net-zero goals, and are prepared to invest more in climate mitigation, adaptation and resilience strategies. A majority sees increased opportunity for climate investments as a result of the conflicts in the Middle East, as countries seek to reduce their reliance on fossil fuels.
The drive for energy security
“Our 2026 study illustrates what we call the new climate reality,” says Lucian Peppelenbos, Climate and Biodiversity Strategist at Robeco. “While investors remain committed to their net-zero goals, there is a growing realism that the transition is driven by hard economics and hard geopolitics.”
“The drive for energy security is benefiting investments in areas such as renewables, battery storage and grids. The new climate reality is also a realization that physical risks are here now, not in a distant future. We believe this will increasingly drive investor sentiment in the next few years.”
Main survey results
The number of investors globally who make climate change a significant part of, or central to, their investment policy has risen slightly from 46% in 2025 to 47% this year. This rises to 58% in Europe and 56% in APAC. In North America, which saw a significant drop in climate investing in 2024 due to an anti-ESG backlash, the figure rose from 23% to 27%.
As seen in previous years, investors remain realistic about the transition to net zero. Of the four possible transitions, a majority of 47% expect a ‘too little, too late’ scenario, slightly down from last year. A further 28% expect a ‘disorderly’ transition, and 7% expect a ‘hot house world’ in which emissions continue to rise unchecked. Only 19% expect an ‘orderly’ transition to take place.
Despite their lack of confidence in the world’s ability to achieve the Paris goals, most investors are staying the course on their own net-zero commitments. Some 64% of investors who have publicly backed net zero say their investment approach is unchanged. However, nearly a third said the road ahead has become more difficult, and they have reconsidered their investment approach as a result.
Physical risks, the Middle East and AI
This year’s survey points to two factors explaining why investors are staying the course, despite the backtracking by governments on climate policies. The first is increased awareness of the near-term materiality of physical climate risk, while the second is expectations that energy security and also artificial intelligence will accelerate the energy transition.
Two-thirds of investors (66%) said they expect physical climate risks to have a moderate to significant impact on asset prices over the next five years. This rises to 82% over 10 years and 87% over 20 years. Almost two-thirds (63%) expect physical risks to change their strategic asset allocation in the next five years, as well as other parts of the investment process such as capital market assumptions and asset manager selection.
Regarding the Middle-East conflict, 75% of investors globally thinks the closure of the Strait of Hormuz will moderately or significantly accelerate the transition to renewables, reducing the need to rely on fossil fuels, rising to 78% in Europe and 83% in APAC.
Investors are also more positive about the benefits of AI than its drawbacks in energy and water use. Globally, 63% thought it would accelerate the development of sustainable infrastructure such as wind and solar farms, while 57% said it would have a positive impact on accelerating the transition toward renewable energy.
Investing in solutions and the transition
Investing in climate solutions remains popular. Globally, 72% of investors aim to invest more in climate mitigation methods such as renewable energy, and in climate adaptation techniques such as flood prevention. Part of this attraction lies in climate solutions being perceived as a growth area, and not just a means of tackling global warming.
And climate transition finance is further gaining in popularity, actively funding high-carbon-emitting industries, such as coal-fired power generation and traditional heavy industries such as steel, cement, chemicals, aviation or construction, to facilitate the decarbonization of their operations. This follows the mantra of financing reduced emissions rather than reducing financed emissions.
Here, green bonds are the most widely used type of climate transition finance among investors, with 47% of global investors holding them. The next most popular methods are in equity funds or strategies (38%), sustainability-linked bonds (34%) and climate transition bonds (25%).
You can read the full climate survey on Robeco’s website here »
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