74% of major North American investors still assess climate risk.

Nearly three-quarters of the largest North American investors are still evaluating climate-related financial risks and directing capital toward climate solutions, suggesting sustainability considerations remain embedded in investment processes even as public ESG messaging becomes less prominent.

The findings come from Ceres’ new Forging Ahead report, which analyzed the 2025 public disclosures and communications of 50 of the largest North America-based institutional investors. Ceres found that 74% assess how climate change could affect their portfolios. The same proportion report allocating capital to climate solutions and assigning formal governance responsibility for climate oversight. Another 72% engage portfolio companies on climate-related issues.

Government engagement is less widespread: 48% have a strategy for discussing climate policy with policymakers. Also, 52% incorporate nature and water-related risks into their investment practices.

The numbers point to a shift in how sustainability is presented. Rather than relying primarily on broad ESG commitments, many investors increasingly frame climate exposure through conventional financial concepts such as portfolio resilience, physical risk, long-term asset values and investment opportunities.

Extreme heat, wildfires, flooding, water scarcity and changes in energy markets can directly affect property, infrastructure, corporate earnings and creditworthiness. An important limitation is that Ceres based its assessment on publicly available investor disclosures and communications. The findings measure disclosed practices rather than independently auditing every portfolio decision or determining how much capital has actually shifted. The report nevertheless suggests that retreating public ESG rhetoric does not necessarily mean institutional investors have stopped pricing climate-related risk.