The bank for a changing world
BNP Paribas’ ESG Survey 2025 commissioned CoreData Research to gather the views of 420 asset owners, asset managers and private capital on their attitudes and practices relating to ESG and sustainable investing in 29 locations worldwide. The data was collected between the end of November 2024 and end of January 2025. The quantitative data was further supplemented by in-depth qualitative interviews with industry experts carried out between February and April 2025. This report is based on the data and information collected in this survey and the interviews.
In a world marked by uncertainty, the 2025 edition of BNP Paribas’ biennial ESG survey shows institutional investors remain committed to sustainable investing. The approach is key to their investment strategies, with growing recognition of holistic approaches and links between climate, biodiversity and social impact.
The survey finds institutional investors are embracing and applying the different aspects of sustainable investing, with respondents in Asia-Pacific and EMEA regions being particularly active, helping to shape standards and financial eco-systems. This year’s research also delves into the characteristics and behaviours that distinguish the leaders when it comes to using ESG and sustainable investing as well as laying out the lessons other investors can learn from their progress and achievements.
Thematics have become more critical for investors, as they look to ensure both return and impact, and move away from generalist ESG investing. The energy transition remains a strong secular theme, with growing attention on how it drives both decarbonisation and long-term value creation. Investors in North America are accelerating this approach, contributing to a broader shift in how sustainability is seen – no longer as a constraint, but as a source of opportunities and innovation for alpha generation.
Another strong theme this year is the importance of the social dimension. Here, a just transition[1] to a lower carbon economy runs alongside decarbonisation and the energy transition in addressing the human aspects of the overall agenda. This finding highlights how investors are increasingly taking a holistic view of sustainability, integrating multi-faceted thematics in their investment long term strategies. This reflects a more integrated understanding of sustainable investment, where themes are not treated in silos but as a part of a connected investment strategy.
Investors also highlight the importance of collaboration and strategic partnerships. For instance, leading investors are engaging more deeply with portfolio companies, acting as long-term partners to advance sustainability outcomes. Investors are also working with external partners, such as banking services providers, in order to improve their resources and capabilities. This year’s survey also shows how private capital managers are emerging as central supporters of ESG and sustainability. Their influence continues to grow, with many embedding sustainability at the heart of their strategies and fostering internal engagement. The data highlights how staff members within these organisations are a driver for progress and sustainability, along with their investors.
[1] Just Transition refers to actions and interventions to minimise the potential adverse social and economic impacts on workers, communities and enterprises of the shift to a low-carbon economy.
The analysis of ESG and sustainability pacesetters brings us some of the most compelling findings in this year’s survey. While these investors’ strategies are aligned with specific objectives such as reducing carbon emissions, they aim to reach these and other goals through a wide range of approaches, priorities and preferences. For example, for the leaders, pursuing the social aspects of ESG and sustainability goes hand-in-hand with issues such as portfolio decarbonisation and investing in the energy transition.
This highlights their ability to identify the way these different elements connect and impact one another, rather than being unrelated factors within the sustainability universe. For example, making real and truly sustainable progress on decarbonisation requires a just transition, to safeguard individuals and communities adversely affected by a move away from oil and gas production.
Another important finding is how many investors are keeping their ESG and sustainability trajectory despite the current uncertainty. As observed earlier, nearly half of investors (46%) agree that recent geopolitical upheavals have not affected their commitment, although many acknowledge that they are likely to be less vocal about their process and achievements now. Further, a majority of investors ‘expect the pace of progress towards sustainability to continue at the same pace between now and 2030’, with only 16% thinking this will slow down.
While investors now make extensive use of approaches such as negative screening and thematic investing, the increasing use of ESG and sustainability by private capital managers shows how private markets are an increasingly important asset classes for achieving sustainability. Private capital managers can be powerful agents of change as they are more likely to have a hands-on approach within areas such as real estate and infrastructure; here they can have a real impact on issues such as reducing carbon emissions or increasing biodiversity.
This year’s survey confirms that ESG and sustainability are deeply embedded within many institutional investors, who now see it as a core part of their investment mission. Institutional investors are obviously willing to play their part in the efforts to meet goals such a reaching net-zero carbon emission by 2050, considering that the next few years are critical in that respect.
Below is the full breakdown of our 420 institutional investor respondents across 29 locations worldwide.
Watch our video on the main outcomes of our ESG Survey 2025
BNP Paribas has placed sustainable development at the heart of its strategy, and is supporting its customers on a daily basis in their transition, by offering them products and services adapted to their needs. Our Securities Services business is aligned on the BNP Paribas Group’s commitment to make a sustainable and inclusive contribution to the […]
