At this year’s Nest Climate Campus event, held September 23-25, 2025, during NYC’s Climate Week, the conversation around climate shifted—from ideals to execution, and from rhetoric to financial and business strategy. Below are key themes from panels featuring institutional investors, corporate leaders, nonprofit leaders, policymakers, and economists.
The impacts of climate change on the economy and finance are no longer in the future or hypothetical. Floods, fires, droughts, and more are not only impacting communities across the country and the world but disrupting supply chains and posing near-term physical risks to commodities, businesses, and financial assets, and continue to make the case for climate action clear. No longer do risks manifest only in discrete instances, but in systemic economic challenges. Two key examples provided in a fireside discussion with Senator Sheldon Whitehouse demonstrate this systemic risk: in Texas, recurring floods have increased the cost of property insurance, and now property insurance is a top household economic concern that owners might struggle to afford. And in Florida, some areas are, or may become uninsurable, posing a risk to the housing market which has already seen declining home sales. Further, leaders from major banking institutions shared that they have no choice but to look closely at physical risks, which will have implications for the availability of funding (especially for infrastructure projects) moving forward.
Businesses represented, from Patagonia to Ikea and L’oreal and more, shared ways that taking action on sustainability boosts their bottom line. Presentations from business leaders throughout the conference were not about lofty goals of saving the environment, but about the practical, material impacts of saving money through sustainable practices. Energy costs are rising, incentivizing businesses to find energy efficiency gains in production, and transportation costs can be cut with lighter-weight paper packaging and by localizing supply chains – all with positive environmental and social impacts like cleaner air. Business leaders and investors highlighted the importance of collaborative, hands-on relationships within companies and with suppliers to encourage operational efficiency and sustainable practices throughout the supply chain. Further, consumer trends show there is demand for quality, sustainable products, which is guiding decisions on product design, packaging, and circularity (i.e. ability to reuse or recycle goods).
Breakout sessions hosted by S&P Global focused on AI, its associated energy demand, and related opportunities and challenges. AI-driven energy use is expected to triple by 2040—with data center energy use growing 3.5x, according to S&P Global (note: specific estimates vary). This will make it even harder to “bend the curve” on global greenhouse gas emissions to reduce the impacts of climate change over time. And in the near-term, this is a challenge for the electric grid – new energy generation is already constrained by permitting, the realities of the process for getting new energy into the grid, and policy headwinds (e.g. the OBBBA dramatically reduced financial incentives in renewable energy markets). The optimistic side of the story is the potential for AI to play a key role in grid digitization, smart buildings, predictive maintenance for utilities to improve system efficiency, and physical risk forecasting. These applications have potential upsides for both energy efficiency and investments across public and private asset classes.
Various panels emphasized the role of collaboration as a key to making progress on climate change. Examples abounded, but I will leave you with two. Green Community Schoolyards is a partnership between civil society, government, and philanthropy to transform public schoolyards into green spaces that are open to the public outside of school hours. These transformative projects improve access to green space, reduce heat island effects, and improve resilience through green infrastructure. Projects implemented across New York City have proven to reduce local flooding, while engaging students and preparing them to be future leaders. Second, Project Drawdown, in collaboration with experts across the world, just launched the Drawdown Explorer that enables individuals, investors, corporations, and philanthropy to identify the most high-impact climate solutions across the globe. Potential projects are searchable by specific location and type of project, from supporting forests to food systems, and more.
While policy and economic uncertainties abound, examples of practical, common-sense action demonstrate that all sectors have a role to play in climate progress. For more resources on sustainable investments, see: Private Equity Insights.
