Major political and economic forces are changing climate action. We’re looking at three trends emerging from Climate Week NYC and Climate Group’s work.
Part 1: The economy is THE conversation. It’s now dominating climate action.
Is money now doing more for the climate than international negotiations like COP?
This year, at Climate Week NYC, we saw the reality of investment in clean energy doubling that in fossil fuels. Huge numbers of investors, consultants, buyers, suppliers, lawyers attended the event, which turned out to be the largest we ever held. They were here to do business.
Discover key insights from this year in the Climate Week NYC 2025 report
Three factors are at play:
One - Market forces. Renewables are now the cheapest form of energy almost anywhere in the world. We’re in a global solar boom – from big business to entrepreneurial homeowners.
Take Pakistan, for instance, where people are fitting rooftop solar at a record scale. It’s the free market in action and, increasingly, the calls are on regulators to get out the way.
Whether it’s renewables, grids, EVs, charging infrastructure – “for everything that's electrified we do tend to see a business case," said BCG Managing Director Patrick Herhold in New York.
Meanwhile, rapid growth of AI, AC and EVs is making this market even more dynamic and exciting.
Two - For governments, the transition is a big source of growth. With major shifts in energy, transport and industry now happening within election periods, they’re eyeing the prize – and they know the risks of losing out.
There’s competition on a whole new level – for investment, tech and jobs. And leaders who are repositioning their value propositions around sustainability are “significantly outpacing their peers," said Diego Ibarra, Senior Partner at Roland Berger, in New York.
Three - Businesses know customers and investors still really want this. And US investors with a huge appetite for clean tech are considering where and how to shift their money into more predictable markets.
Economic power is increasingly going to drive climate action. Will the global climate community find new ways to work with and use that?