The long and short of it

As we mark the halfway point of 2026, this edition of the S&P Global Sustainability Quarterly explores several key trends we identified at the outset of the year — and that continue to shape how sustainability is influencing decision-making.  

Sustainability in 2026 remains a story of how stakeholders balance near-term and long-term priorities to build resilience in the face of uncertainty. This balancing act is especially evident in the energy space, as companies and governments grapple with how to ensure near-term energy security and affordability while simultaneously addressing long-term risks like climate change.  

Continued conflict in the Middle East and growing AI-driven power demands are reshaping this calculus. Research into Big Tech finds that renewables like wind and solar are featuring more prominently in the sector's energy road map, thanks to AI demands and a desire for energy autonomy. We zoom in on the US power market to understand how affordability concerns are impacting data center development.  

Research into another high-emitting sector — transportation — explores how these companies are balancing decarbonization strategies with the practical, system-level barriers to widespread electric vehicle adoption, including cost and charging infrastructure.  

Climate change will impact all sectors and geographies to different degrees, and our research explores how increasing frequency and severity of river flooding in some regions could translate into financial risk.  

Climate change and nature loss are closely intertwined, as we have written in past editions of this research journal, and we explore here how forest degradation can amplify physical climate risks. We zoom in on cocoa and coffee to understand how climate change could impact these two key crops — and how sustainable agriculture practices can help companies build long-term resilience.   

Another key to creating resilience is robust governance, and we explore how our data helps investors navigate the risks of corporate controversies like human rights violations, labor abuses and environmental damage — all of which can ultimately translate into financial losses. 

Across all these topics, we seek to understand investor appetite and fund flows. We find that sustainable debt financing continues to favor mature climate transition technologies, as evidenced by the 1,000 Second Party Opinions S&P Global analyzed — a milestone reached in the second quarter.