Amundi Responsible Investment Views 2026

• Positive inflows led by fixed income in a context of continued normalisation of responsible investment flows and pronounced asset and style rotation
  The responsible investment market continued its normalisation in 2025, with €108bn net inflows in Europe in 2025’s first three quarters, accounting for >95% of total global RI inflows. Fixed income has led net inflows, with the share of responsible investment in fixed income in Europe accounting for 63% of total AuM as of Q3 2025. On responsible investment equities, demand has shifted from restrictive passive screens towards broader exposure, with stronger appetite for low tracking error strategies.

• Responsible Asset Owners stayed the course as climate coalitions recalibrated
  Recalibration of climate coalitions (NZAM, NZBA) did not translate into a retreat from sustainability. Instead, it reinforced a more demanding phase of stewardship from asset owners, reallocating misaligned mandates in extreme cases.

• ESG index performance remained aligned with benchmark, with regional divergence
  ESG variants of MSCI World index remained close to their parent benchmarks, with a slight edge over 10 years. At regional level, Europe observed slight underperformance explained by sector tilts as exposure to defence has been a material performance driver.

• Adaptation and resilience are becoming core to corporate strategy
  Physical risk is now observable in operating metrics: 57% of companies report that climate events have affected operations in the past year. On corporate climate engagement, commitments to SBTi rose +25% YoY, while adaptation spending surged.

• Regulatory simplification is improving implementation and use
  The policy agenda shifted from expanding disclosure to simplifying it, clarifying what is decision-useful vs. compliance-heavy, but the real test is end-investor impact. Meanwhile, ESG data providers consolidated offerings, focusing on aggregated, decision-useful metrics.
   

2026 shift: Responsible investing in the age of strategic autonomy and resilience

• The clean energy bottleneck has shifted from capacity additions to system integration
  Global electricity demand is accelerating, IEA expects 4% growth through 2027, adding 3,500 TWh, with >90% of this growth coming from renewables. The carbon intensity of listed companies fell by roughly 8% year-on-year globally, leaving the inflection point for peak energy related emissions uncertain.
  As renewables are increasingly cost-competitive, the binding constraint is now grids, flexibility, storage and faster connection that need to be facilitated by policies (permitting, connection queues, market rules). For investors, end user affordability is an increasingly material factor to monitor, since integration failures or regulatory delays can raise bills and slow adoption.

• Strategic-autonomy efforts are fragmenting the energy landscape into diverging “electrostate vs petrostate” dynamics
  Governments are reshoring critical supply chains, from clean-tech and critical minerals to parts of the fossil value chain, to boost resilience. Europe prioritizes speed: rapidly expand grids, flexibility and domestic clean-tech or face higher costs and lower autonomy. The US uses incentives and localisation but sends mixed signals: load growth from AI and electrification drives capacity needs, while volatile gas/LNG markets and export-driven infrastructure risk price pressure and lock in. Asia, led by China, already dominates clean-tech manufacturing; for many Asian countries the case for a sustainable energy transition is clear and offers climate resilience, energy independence and economic opportunity.

• Climate adaptation is now a tangible imperative for investors, on an equal footing with transition
  Investors are prioritising adaptation as climate impacts mount, and 60% of corporates expect significant financial impacts from physical risks in the next five years. To better manage risks while pursuing decarbonization goals, investors must embed climate-risk analysis, including supply chain exposures, into due diligence and asset allocation, and prioritise development of localized, asset level, tail risk adaptation metrics, which are still underdeveloped.

• Natural capital is moving mainstream in responsible investment markets, for good reasons
  Global nature finance totals $200bn annually but must triple by 2030. Private capital, currently just 18% of flows, is critical to scaling investment. The most direct path for investors lies in real assets like forests, farmland, and water rights, which deliver returns through sustainable use (carbon credits, timber, agriculture) and are increasingly integrated into advanced portfolios. To accelerate growth, financial instruments like green bonds, debt-for-nature swaps, and impact bonds can channel additional capital into these assets. Both channels can offer compelling risk-adjusted returns with impact.

• AI is redefining responsible investing, from data to labour markets
  AI is improving sustainability analysis, speeding data ingestion and adding new qualitative insights, but also risks widening social gaps and workforce disruption, especially in ageing exposed sectors. Opportunities are likely to be found in integrated health/care platforms, robotics/automation for labour scarce services, and age inclusive digital infrastructure. 2026 will also crystallize AI regulatory fault lines, such as ethics and regional divergence, forcing investors to shift capital toward socially and economically useful use cases.

• 2026: A window to align responsible investment products with investor demand and preferences
  Strong stated retail demand, particularly from younger investors, is being held back by advisory frictions, unclear product labels and complex disclosure. In Europe, 2026 could be a turning point: SFDR 2.0 combined with technical alignment of MiFID II and IDD can simplify labels and lower advisory complexity to unlock retail participation, provided product categorisations deliver a genuine product–market fit.