Nine takeaways on climate under Trump

At events across the globe in March, investors and managers sought to make sense of Trump's impact on the energy transition and their portfolios.

Discussions around sustainability at NEXUS 2025 were in the main edged out by talk of liquidity, private wealth, tariffs, uncertainty… and, of course, artificial intelligence.

Where sustainability muscled its way onto the agenda was in the context of energy investment, the issue of soaring energy demand (did someone mention AI?) and the crumbling ambition to transition away from oil and gas. Here are nine takeaways from the various discussions on the topic.

The ambition to transition away from oil and gas is – at least in the eyes of the US administration – dead. “The new administration has – for the energy transition – been a disaster,” said Jan Ståhlberg, founder and managing partner of impact investing firm Trill Impact, referencing a recent speech in which US energy secretary Chris Wright decried wind and solar as being more expensive than other forms of energy and extolled the virtues of liquefied natural gas. There are still many uncommitted allocations to climate and energy transition investments, within the US and throughout the world. Although what type of investment belongs in a ‘climate’ investment is still a point of contention. In the eyes of corporates, the energy transition is still alive… in private anyway. “In public right now for obvious reasons, people are being careful, but privately the companies […] said they’re not backing off their net carbon goals,” said Meghan Sharp, global head and chief investment officer of Decarbonization Partners, about a recent gathering of utilities and energy CEOs. The economics of decarbonisation are still compelling for global investors. “Investors are expecting us to do it and are asking questions about it more than ever, especially in the last six months,” said Robbie Epsom, EMEA head of sustainability and senior director at manager CBRE Investment Management, during real estate conference MIPIM in the same week. ‘Climate’ covers a broad spectrum of investable opportunities. While international investors may be put off by many US clean energy sectors (offshore wind), others are more promising (solar around data centre hubs), said investors at the Infrastructure Investor Network’s Global Summit last week. As a word, ‘climate’ is losing its appeal. The word ‘resiliency’ was suggested as a useful replacement by Karine Khatcherian, managing partner of Power Sustainable. LNG – in favour under Trump – is viewed by some as enabling the energy transition. “Very simply, coal is probably the worst pollutant, so you knock out that first, and then work on everything else; that’s a major theme for us,” said Neil McMahon, managing partner of Kimmeridge, referring to US LNG exports to Latin America. In times of uncertainty and changes in policy direction, the benefits of diversification come to the fore. “When you have more uncertainty in certain geographies, our partners can go to others,” said Petya Nikolova, deputy CIO and head of infrastructure investments at the New York City Comptroller’s Office. Government subsidies and tax breaks were never part of any private equity GP’s investment underwriting case. Said all GPs.

Nine takeaways on climate under Trump

The article discusses the impact of the Trump administration on the energy transition and sustainability investments. Despite the administration's stance, discussions at various global events highlighted the ongoing ambition of corporates to decarbonize and the compelling economics of decarbonization for investors. The article also explores the shift in terminology from 'climate' to 'resiliency' and the role of LNG in enabling the energy transition.