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.
Opportunity Versus Risk: The Real Decider Of Data Center Growth In Emerging Markets
- Emerging markets already account for 35% of global data center capacity (with China accounting for more than 60% of that share), and could be the next major driver of growth, with a development pipeline that is almost two times larger than current operating capacity.
- The conversion of planned projects into operating assets will be uneven, favoring markets with reliable grids, clear permitting processes, access to renewables, and available capital.
- Energy and water constraints are the primary risks to growth, particularly in regional data center hubs where rapid expansion coincides with electricity grid bottlenecks or water stress.
- Developers in emerging markets may face growing social risks if data center expansion is perceived to drive up electricity costs, reduce grid reliability, or restrict local access to water and land.
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
Webinar Debrief: Can Data Centers Be Green?
Our recent webinar "Can Data Centers Be Green?" created a buzz among investors and was well attended. In the following Webinar Debrief report, S&P Global Ratings summarizes the key messages from the webinar and answer some of the many questions we received from attendees.
Key takeaways:
- The rapid expansion of digital infrastructure is driving unprecedented demand for electricity and water, creating new sustainability challenges.
- Companies are increasingly using debt to finance their data center expansions, including using labelled green or sustainable bond or loan frameworks.
- The intensity of emissions from power, water use, and energy efficiency at data centers are the main drivers when assessing the Shade of Green in our Second Party Opinions (SPOs), though other aspects may also be important depending on the local context or value chain.
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