Investors stick with net-zero targets despite policy uncertainty

Investors are largely maintaining their net-zero commitments despite growing uncertainty around government climate policy, according to research from Robeco.

The asset manager’s 2026 Global Climate Investing Survey found 94% of respondents with a net-zero goal intend to stick with it regardless of government policy – despite policy uncertainty being identified as the biggest obstacle to climate investment, cited by 45% of respondents.

Investors also remain willing to increase their exposure to climate-related investments, with 60% saying they expect to raise allocations to investments actively addressing climate change over the next three years.

Meanwhile, 59% believe demand for climate mitigation solutions will remain strong regardless of political sentiment.

However, confidence in the transition and its impact has weakened. Just 19% of respondents expect an ‘orderly climate transition’, while 47% believe the outcome will be ‘too little, too late’. Some 44% also said they believe the goal of limiting global warming to well below 2°C is now unachievable.

Physical climate risks are becoming a greater concern for investors, with 66% expecting them to have a moderate or significant impact on asset prices over the next five years.

Energy security is also increasingly influencing investment decisions. Three-quarters of respondents said conflict in the Middle East would accelerate the transition towards renewable energy, including 15% who expect the impact to be significant.

Lucian Peppelenbos, climate and biodiversity strategist at Robeco, said: “Our 2026 study illustrates what we call the new reality of climate investing. 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.”

He said the push for greater energy security was supporting investment in areas including renewable energy, battery storage and electricity grids, while physical climate risks were becoming a more immediate consideration for investors.

Concerns around some of the practical challenges of climate investing have eased compared with last year. Investment performance remained the most commonly cited challenge, at 50%, but this was down from 67% in 2025.

Robeco surveyed 300 institutional and wholesale investors across Europe, North America, Asia-Pacific and South Africa, representing approximately $35.8trn in combined assets under management.

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