Ceres Study Finds Three-Quarters of Largest North American Investors Still Embed Climate Risk in Portfolio Strategy
Ceres Study Finds Three-Quarters of Largest North American Investors Still Embed Climate Risk in Portfolio Strategy #
Despite a wave of clean-energy policy rollbacks in the United States, most of the continent’s largest institutional investors are pushing ahead on climate-related financial risk management, according to a new report from sustainability-focused non-profit Ceres.
The report, titled “Forging Ahead: A 2026 Assessment of Investor Climate Action Across North America,” examined the 2025 public disclosures and communications of 50 of the largest North American-based investors. Its central finding: 74% of those investors are actively assessing the climate-related financial risks within their portfolios.
Ceres says climate considerations are increasingly integrated into core investment processes and tied to portfolio resilience and long-term fiduciary objectives, rather than treated as a standalone environmental concern. According to the report, investors are moving from broad commitments toward concrete steps, including allocating capital, adjusting governance structures, and managing portfolio exposure with climate risk in mind.
“When we measure investor climate action by looking at how capital is being allocated, governed, and managed, the takeaway from our analysis is clear — the majority of North American investors are forging ahead on climate,” said Kaede Kawauchi, the report’s author and director of the Ceres Investor Network.
Ceres points to physical and market-driven factors sustaining that direction. Wildfires, flooding, and extreme heat events have established climate as a material financial concern, while fossil fuel price volatility and growing demand for energy infrastructure are creating opportunities in the clean-energy transition.
Cynthia McHale, Vice President of the Ceres Investor Network, described the report as a practical tracking tool. “Our report can serve as a practical tool for investors, policymakers, and regulators to track the pace and direction of climate action, identify hurdles for scaling action, and pinpoint where more action could unlock further progress,” she said.
The findings come as many major financial institutions have scaled back public sustainability commitments or withdrawn from climate-focused investor coalitions amid political pressure in the United States. Ceres’ data suggests that underlying risk-management practices among top-tier investors remain largely intact even as their public positioning has shifted.
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