So the idea that major investors do not care about the climate, and that the world of finance is turning its back on the energy transition, is not true. Despite Trump and his followers, the people who manage the real money continue to regard climate change as a priority. Perhaps not purely out of idealism, but because it serves to protect capitalism from even more serious disasters. This is, in fact, the finding of the sixth edition of Robeco’s Global Climate Investing Survey, one of the most comprehensive surveys on the subject, which involved 200 institutional investors and 100 wholesale investors (i.e., asset managers, financial advisers, private banks, family offices and brokers) across Europe, North America, Asia-Pacific and South Africa.

The takeaway is that six out of ten investors plan to increase their investments in climate solutions over the next three years. 59% believe that demand for instruments to mitigate global warming will remain strong, whatever happens on the political front. And, amongst those who have already set net-zero emissions targets, 94% say they intend to stick to them, regardless of government decisions.

A quick note: Robeco is a Dutch asset manager and one of the largest in Europe, with over €200 billion in assets under management. It is also renowned for having pioneered the integration of sustainability criteria into investment strategies. The study is thoroughly conducted, and the 300 fund managers interviewed collectively manage nearly $36,000 billion in assets. That’s no small matter.

This study does, however, highlight one important point: recent years have been difficult for those who believe in sustainability. In the United States, several pension funds have withdrawn from climate alliances, some major banks have scaled back their public commitments, and Trump’s administration has declared open war on anything that sounds remotely green. In Europe, the wind has also shifted following the election of the new European Parliament, where the EPP’s People’s Party frequently allies itself with sovereigntists, patriots, nationalists and neo-fascists, and with the reluctance of most centre-right governments (including Italy’s) to support the ecological transition. Yet investors are not fleeing; on the contrary, they are refining their strategies.

One look around is enough. Three-quarters of those surveyed believe that the conflict in the Middle East will accelerate the transition to renewable energy in order to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. Two-thirds expect climate-related environmental risks to impact asset prices over the next five years, with the impact ranging from moderate to significant. In short, people are investing in solar power, energy storage and electricity grids not to save the planet, but to avoid being left in the dark.

Lucian Peppelenbos, Climate and Biodiversity Strategist at Robeco, speaks of the “new reality of climate investment”. The transition, he explains, is no longer driven solely by environmental objectives or regulatory pressures but by very real economic and geopolitical factors. There is, however, a new sense of realism running through the entire survey. Investors are under no delusion: only 19% expect an orderly climate transition, whilst almost half (47%, to be precise) anticipate a scenario described as “too little, too late”. 44% now consider the target of limiting global warming to well below 2°C to be unattainable. And 45% of those surveyed cite uncertainty over government policies as the main obstacle to climate investment.

Another interesting point relates to the evolution of concerns. In 2025, 67% of investors cited financial performance as the main challenge associated with the decarbonisation of portfolios. This year, that figure has fallen to 50%. It remains the primary concern, but the decline suggests a greater awareness of the necessary trade-offs and, perhaps, a maturing of investment strategies. Fears about data quality have also eased: from 48% to 34%. Tools are improving, metrics are becoming more refined, and the fog is lifting.

Complex challenges remain. 41% of respondents cite the difficulty of balancing climate objectives and financial impacts, whilst 37% struggle to manage complex asset classes. Fortunately, climate investments are becoming increasingly sophisticated, relying on forward-looking data rather than merely counting carbon emissions, and becoming ever more integrated with financial performance. This change of direction, whichever way you look at it, is very positive news.

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