Category: Insights

In the year ahead, here are five areas we are monitoring closely that will shape decisions for businesses, investors and policymakers alike.

The rise of anti-ESG sentiment in the United States is shifting the sustainability conversation in North America. This movement has politicized sustainable investing and introduced new headwinds for investors. Yet despite this, most investors in Canada and globally remain committed to long-term sustainability goals. These issues took centre stage at the Association of Canadian Pension Management (ACPM)’s 2025 National Conference in Halifax, where the plenary session “Navigating Sustainable Investing in an Ever-Changing World” brought together leading experts to examine how shifting political and regulatory landscapes are reshaping sustainable investing across North America.

The future of sustainability disclosure is being written now and will focus on data integrity, comparability and financial connectivity. Companies that proactively prepare will continue to yield strategic value from their efforts, while others are shaped by regulatory compliance.

Ahead of COP30 in Belém, Brazil, 1,300 finance industry representatives from around the world gathered in São Paulo for PRI in Person 2025. The event focused on how investors can navigate global challenges to safeguard long-term financial returns for beneficiaries. Against a backdrop of the ESG backlash, mounting climate-related catastrophes and destabilizing social and geopolitical risks, attendees shared their perspectives and vision on how to enhance the resiliency of investment strategies and realize investable opportunities that provide positive financial, environmental and societal outcomes.

Leading impact investing experts gathered in Berlin for the Global Impact Investing Network’s (GIIN) annual Forum in early October. The event celebrated the sector’s ongoing growth, with GIIN’s 2025 estimate of USD 1.6 tn in assets under management — a rise of 11% over the past year and a 21% compound annual growth rate over six years. Under the theme Unshakeable Values. Common Purpose, the Forum reinforced the industry’s determination to mobilize capital for both financial returns and positive impact.

To address Canada’s housing affordability crisis successfully, the public and private sectors must work collaboratively on solutions. In this Brief, we outline what is driving the issue, share our perspectives on the roles commercial landlords are uniquely positioned to play in rental housing and our recommendations for how firms can take meaningful action.

Business leaders and investors gathered recently to discuss clean energy, climate finance, nature-based solutions, industrial decarbonization and food system transformation at Climate Week NYC. These themes spanned various industries and highlighted the climate imperative across all aspects of our society and economy.

As 2030 nears, climate transition plans have emerged as a way for organizations to plan and communicate their efforts to achieve their climate ambitions. Transition plans are strategies for aligning business activities with the transition to a low-carbon, climate-resilient economy. Like any business strategy, they play a role in clarifying objectives, setting key performance indicators (KPIs) and outlining resourcing and accountabilities to inform broader strategies. Canada’s largest banks have all released their latest climate-related disclosures, detailing progress on their transition plans. Below are our key takeaways on the state-of-play of climate transition planning for Canadian FIs and our recommendations for how FIs can prioritize their climate efforts throughout the balance of 2025.

The 2025 Social Finance Forum brought together a diverse community of 500+ investors, philanthropists, community leaders, entrepreneurs and enablers working to grow Canada’s economic systems with purpose. Held in Toronto in mid-June, the Forum served as a powerful reminder that there remains a strong and growing commitment to advancing positive social and environmental outcomes related to Indigenous reconciliation, equity, climate, food and housing through finance, even in a complex economic and political landscape.