S&P Global Ratings
Sustainability Insights
S&P Global Ratings' sustainability insights provide transparency on established and emerging environmental, social, and governance risks and trends—and how they impact economies, companies, and markets.
Mercury Rising: European Entities Show Some Adaptation Gains As Physical Risks Mount
S&P Global Ratings sees a 50% likelihood that the global average temperature will reach 2.3 degrees Celsius (2.3 C) above the pre-industrial average by 2040 (see "Why Planning For A 2.3C Warmer World Is Critical This Decade And Next," Sept. 15, 2025). Studies indicate Europe is warming faster than the global average, implying increasing exposure to climate hazards like drought and floods.
To explore the vulnerability of European companies to physical climate risks, we analyzed the exposure to climate hazards of 70 companies we rate 'BBB-' or higher (i.e. investment grade). These companies are in sectors (like real estate) that are highly sensitive to worsening climate hazards and have most of their assets in Europe. We used S&P Global Energy’s Physical Climate Risk dataset and the adaptation and resilience plans (where disclosed) of the companies in our sample. We also studied 7,509 responses to S&P Global's 2025 Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA)--which is not conducted by S&P Global Ratings--to establish sector benchmarks. Climate hazard exposure scores in this research do not form part of our credit rating analysis.
Climate Transition Risk
Sustainable Finance FAQ
How S&P Global Ratings Supports Credibility and Transparency in Transition Financing
Sustainable finance is about more than funding activities and investments that already foster a greener, low-carbon, and more climate-resilient future in alignment with the Paris Agreement. It's also about financing those that aren't yet compatible to the same degree but do contribute to a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
In our inaugural Sustainability FAQ, we answer market participants’ questions on how we view green and transition financing through our coverage and capabilities.
Physical Climate Risk
Sustainability Insights
New Routes: Assessing Transportation Infrastructure's Vulnerability to Physical Risks
Data and scenario analyses show that many transportation infrastructure assets could face worsening climate hazard exposure by the 2050s, while progress on adaptation and resilience varies.
This research examines the vulnerability of rated transportation infrastructure—railways, roads, ports, and airports—to physical climate risks. We aim to provide insights into how worsening climate hazards might influence key credit factors for transportation infrastructure companies in our rated universe of corporate and project finance entities, and how they are preparing for and managing these risks.
Other Environmental Factors
Sustainability Insights
Global Company Emissions Grow, Intensities Decline
Our analysis is based on trends over 2016-2023, using data from S&P Global Sustainable1 on a representative cohort of over 11,000 companies that have annual data available for each year. This analysis aims to provide insights into the industry groups that are most exposed to climate transition risks such as policy, technology, and market changes in relation to potential shifts toward a low-carbon economy. At the same time, the financial impact of environmental risks on the sector and our ratings has so far been negligible, reflecting a lack of stringent environmental regulations and little change in consumers' buying behavior.
Full results of our analysis and details on our methodology are presented in "Greenhouse Gas Emissions: A Deep Dive Into Trends For Global Industries," Sept. 18, 2025.
White Paper
Credit Implications of Global Aging: A Complex Interplay
Aging populations, like other global megatrends such as increasing digitalization, are gradually reshaping our world, and often in unpredictable ways, as we describe in our White Paper: Assessing How Megatrends May Influence Credit Ratings, published April 18, 2024. Global aging, typically stemming from declining birth rates and longer life expectancies, is a measurable trend in most geographies. Yet it's difficult to predict the likely credit impacts, how material they may be, and when they might unfold. Some credit impacts have already emerged while others may take several years.
Sustainable Finance
Sustainability Insights
Sustainable Bonds Global Outlook 2026: Consolidation, Not Expansion
Outstanding debt in the global sustainable bond market should hit a new high in 2026. In 2025, issuance fell 19% to $866 billion. We expect issuance of a similar level this year. This would bring outstanding sustainable bonds to about $5.5 trillion, given 2026 maturities slightly exceeding $500 billion.
However, we note sustainable bond issuance is decoupling from the overall bond market, which increased nearly 11% in 2025 and surpassed $10 trillion in total issuance. This means forecasts for sustainable bond issuance are subject to increasing uncertainty, in S&P Global Ratings' view.
Materiality
Sustainability Insights
ESG In Credit Ratings 2025 In Review: Physical Risk-Driven Rating Actions Increased
- ESG-related rating actions rose 11% in 2025 to 182, reversing the decline seen in 2024. This increase was driven almost exclusively by governance factors, which accounted for 80% of all ESG-related rating activity (up from 77% in 2024).
- ESG-related rating actions remained predominantly negative in 2025, with 153 negative actions versus 27 positive ones. Sovereign issuers were the only sector in which ESG related actions were net positive.
- Physical climate risks drove 29 rating actions in 2025, up 32% from 2024, with the increase pointing to rising near-term credit sensitivity to acute weather events.
Shades of Green
Sustainability Insights
Climate Transition Trends: A Crude Reality For Oil And Gas
Most oil and gas companies globally are planning to reduce emissions from their own operations. Yet many of them still focus on activities that are incompatible with a low-carbon, climate-resilient future. S&P Global Ratings undertook Climate Transition Assessments on a sample of 81 oil and gas companies representing 50% of the world's listed oil and gas assets. Our Shades of Green represent our qualitative opinion of how consistent a company’s activities are with a low-carbon, climate-resilient future.
Social & Governance