The sustainable investing landscape is undergoing a pragmatic reset, shifting from idealism to a focus on substance, resilience, and economic fundamentals. While the long-term secular trend of energy transition remains robust, driven by falling costs, rapid deployment, and energy security, success in the current volatile macro and policy environment demands a renewed emphasis on profitability, scalability, and robust value propositions. By looking beyond headlines and identifying accelerating “in-the-money” themes, critical value chain links, and capital imbalances, investors can find conviction and margin of safety across asset classes, particularly in private credit, value-add infrastructure, and lower middle market private equity, and continuation vehicles.
1Ember. “The Electrotech Revolution.” September 2025.
2International Renewable Energy Agency (2025), Renewable Capacity Statistics 2025. https://www.irena.org/News/pressreleases/2025/Mar/Record-Breaking-Annual-Growth-in-Renewable-Power-Capacity
3International Energy Agency. World Energy Investment 2025. https://www.iea.org/topics/investment
4BloombergNEF: Lithium-Ion Battery Pack Prices See Largest Drop Since 2017, Falling to $115 per Kilowatt-Hour. Dec-2024.
5S&P Global: CERAWEEK: Renewables ready to go, labor and parts delays gas plants: NextEra CEO. Mar, 2025.
6Gas Outlook. “Costs to build gas plants triple, says CEO of NextEra Energy.” Oct 7, 2025.
7S&P Global, US gas-fired turbine wait times as much as seven years; costs up sharply. May 2025.
8International Energy Agency (IEA): World Energy Investment Report 2025
9International Energy Agency (IEA): World Energy Investment Report 2025
10McKinsey Global Energy Perspectives 2025: China has the largest electricity demand today, in part because of its high level of electrification China is projected to have more than 90 percent low-carbon power by 2050.
11Reuters. “India hits 50% non-fossil power milestone ahead of 2030 clean energy target.” July 14, 2025
12European Investment Bank. “The only way forward.” October 15, 2024.
13International Energy Agency (2024), Who is investing in energy around the world, and who is financing it? OECD Environment Working Paper No. 245 (2024)
14Wood Mackenzie (2024) Conflicts of interest: The cost of investing in the energy transition in a high interest-rate era
15U.S. Energy Information Administration, as of August 2025.
16BNEF 2024 Clean Energy Investment Trends.
17Sustainable strategies include Pitchbook categories: Agriculture; Air; Biodiversity & Ecosystems; Climate; Energy; Infrastructure; Land; Oceans and Coastal Zones; Pollution; Waste; Water. Private equity funds include private equity, venture capital, and infrastructure.
Source: am.gs.com
