For me, 2025 was a year of getting away from the screen. We at Nossa attended more events and met more clients in-person than in previous years, reinforcing what I learned early in my career.The most useful insights donโt come from flash headlines, reg updates, or hot takes about the politicisation of ESG.
They come from osmosis, being in the same room as the leading teams who are actually making decisions under real constraints.From discussions on the omnibus, to breakfasts with about ratings, to CWNYC, and various other events, a few themes kept showing up:
๐ญ. ๐ ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ฐ๐น๐ผ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ฒ๐๐ปโ๐ ๐ฎ๐๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐๐. Weโre entering a world of longer reports, more metrics, and more coverage, but not always more consistency. One conversation that stuck with me was the practical challenge investors face when formats vary wildly: tables, charts, narrative, colour-codes... All of this makes like-for-like analysis harder to grasp.
๐ฎ. ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ธ ๐ถ๐ ๐ด๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ผ ๐ถ๐ด๐ป๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ. Physical climate risk is increasingly being discussed in geolocation-specific terms. One of the clearest leading indicators I heard repeatedly this year was insurance. When pricing tightens or coverage disappears in exposed areas, itโs a signal that risk is becoming undeniably material
๐ฏ. โ๐๐ฆ๐โ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐น๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฎ ๐๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฎ๐น๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐ ๐๐ผ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ฐ, ๐ฏ๐๐ ๐๐ฆ๐ ๐๐ผ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ถ๐น๐ ๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฑ... ESG reporting didnโt dominate the agenda in the same way, but is unclear whether it is just becoming less important though. It's being more absorbed into strategy and is now more threaded into broader conversations on resilience, geopolitics, tariffs, and more, despite the disappearance of headline acronyms (ESG, DEI, etc)
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๐ฐ. ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ด๐๐น๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ถ๐ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ณ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฐ๐๐น๐, ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐๐ฎ๐ป๐๐น๐ โ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ผ๐ผ๐ปโ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐น๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ ๐ฐ๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ. Despite noise and periodic backtracking, the year left me with a clearer view that regulation is not disappearing. Itโs evolving unevenly, with speedbumps and uncertainty around preparation. Still, we shouldnโt simply look at the positives and need to acknowledge how confusing the landscape has become
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๐ฑ. ๐๐๐บ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐น ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ต ๐๐ต๐ฒ โ๐๐ฆ๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ฐ๐น๐ฒ.โ Even w/ shifting narratives, strong commitments from the people doing the work, whether through actionable strategy or by advocating for transparency are keeping corporates moving in the right direction, even when theyโre seemingly slowing down, in what was a scarier year for sustainability
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Big thanks to everyone who made time to meet this year: clients, peers, organisers, and colleagues.
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