Many organisations have set a clear direction in relation to their decarbonisation, resilience and sustainable growth aspirations, and are now dealing with the implementation of those ambitions. This is seeing a focus on how to secure the required energy, infrastructure, capital and wider systems needed to support their plans.
That shift is likely to shape discussions next week at Climate Week NYC 2026. While commitments, targets, disclosure requirements and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) strategies remain important, attention is increasingly turning towards the practical realities of implementation. Alongside this, consideration is also being given to how else sustainability strategies need to evolve; for example, by broadening beyond carbon to draw in impacts and dependencies on nature and resources.
Can the necessary physical infrastructure needed to reduce emissions be delivered? Will energy systems keep pace with demand? How resilient are assets and supply chains and where are the dependencies on nature? And how can businesses remain competitive while navigating a complex operating environment across borders?
Together, these challenges show that delivery, not ambition, is likely to define the next phase of the transition. Ahead of Climate Week NYC, we examine five questions business leaders should be asking.
Can the infrastructure your business depends on keep pace with your ambitions?
For many organisations, the biggest barriers to growth and transition plans now sit outside their direct control. The success of projects ranging from manufacturing expansion to clean technology deployment often depends on access to grid connections, transport and digital infrastructure, water resources and efficient planning systems. Increasingly, these factors are shaping investment decisions as much as the commercial opportunity itself.
Through our work across the energy transition market, it's clear that achieving long-term decarbonisation and energy security depends on substantial investment in the infrastructure that supports it. Expanding and modernising electricity networks, delivering new generation and storage capacity, and accommodating rising demand from electrification and digital technologies are all creating new pressures across existing systems. At the same time, businesses are often competing for access to the same grid connections, development sites and supply chain resources.
The reality is that delivery risk is evolving. Alongside policy, technology and organisational readiness, businesses must consider what happens when the infrastructure needed to support growth cannot be delivered at the pace anticipated. Delayed grid connections, consenting challenges and supply chain constraints can affect project timelines, operating models and investment returns. Debates around grid reform and the prioritisation of projects that are ready to proceed demonstrate how infrastructure availability is becoming a more influential factor in commercial decision-making.
Legal and commercial planning at an early stage of project design is crucial. Consenting strategies, procurement arrangements, construction contracts, land rights and stakeholder engagement can all affect how risks are managed and whether projects move forward successfully.
For business leaders, the challenge is not simply identifying opportunities. It is understanding whether the infrastructure needed to support them will be available when and where it is required.
Will access to (affordable) energy become a competitive advantage?
Energy is becoming a more prominent consideration in business planning. Demand for power continues to grow (with the expansion of data centres, digital infrastructure and AI-related technologies all additional drivers) and create an impact on energy networks and supporting infrastructure. These trends are likely to feature prominently in discussions around delivery, growth and competitiveness at Climate Week NYC 2026.
Looking ahead, businesses are concerned with whether power generation, networks, storage and grid infrastructure can develop quickly enough to support changing patterns of demand, whilst remaining competitively priced. Although the move from a "First-come, First-served" to a "First Ready, First Connected" model is underway, for example, there is still a degree of uncertainty over timelines, costs and process which creates some challenges for business planning. Grid constraints, connection delays and ongoing market reforms are already influencing project timelines and plans in some markets.
Those organisations with substantial power requirements are paying closer attention to long-term procurement strategies – often looking to generate their own power as part of their portfolio solution. This is particularly relevant as competition for capacity grows. In some markets, businesses face longer connection times, higher infrastructure costs and uncertainty around future energy availability. The ability to secure reliable, long-term power supplies at affordable rates could become a meaningful source of competitive advantage.
How resilient is your business beyond its own operations?
Climate-related risk and the disruption it can cause is now a key concern for organisations, regardless of sector.
The impact of more frequent occurrences of extreme weather, flooding, heat stress and water scarcity can affect operations, asset values and investment decisions. Alongside this, biodiversity loss, ecosystem degradation and pressure on natural resources are creating risks that extend across supply chains, infrastructure networks and the wider economy.
Many of the most significant factors sit outside of an organisation's influence and so mitigating them is a challenge. A business may operate resilient facilities but rely on transport infrastructure or a local sub-station exposed to flooding, suppliers in regions facing water stress, or natural resources under increasing pressure. As our article on navigating nature risk highlights, nature-related risks are often deeply embedded within value chains and may arise less from a company's direct activities than from its dependence on the natural systems that support sourcing, production and the delivery of goods and services.
Risk exposure varies by sector, geography and supply chain. Understanding dependencies and impacts is essential to identify where risks are most material for your organisation – helping inform a tailored approach. Organisations should look beyond their individual assets and consider the resilience of their:
- Energy networks that support operations and growth.
- Supply chains that provide critical goods, materials and services.
- Transport and digital infrastructure that underpin day-to-day activity.
- Water resources and natural systems that support production, sourcing and business continuity.
Disruption in any of these areas can increase costs, delay projects and force closure of key plants or impact product viability. This is driving greater focus on governance and risk management – not just from a sustainability perspective but in terms of business continuity and protecting value.
Investors, regulators and other stakeholders increasingly expect organisations to understand material climate- and nature-related risks and explain how they are being managed. Climate-related disclosures, directors' duties, contractual risk allocation, insurance arrangements and supply chain due diligence all have a role to play in strengthening resilience and informing decision-making.
Ultimately, businesses that understand their vulnerabilities, invest in adaptation and strengthen resilience will be better equipped to respond to disruption than those that treat it as a separate sustainability concern.
What makes a project attractive?
Across energy, infrastructure, technology, resilience and nature-based projects, capital tends to flow towards projects that show a clear path from ambition to delivery. Strong environmental credentials remain important, but those investing in these projects want confidence that a business or a project can navigate planning and regulatory requirements, secure the infrastructure and resources it depends upon, manage risks effectively and deliver reliable outcomes.
A growing area of interest for many larger organisations, for example, is carbon credits. Carbon credit procurement is becoming a strategic priority, aligned with net-zero targets – particularly for those operating in the real estate, infrastructure and financial services sectors, and for Article 8 and Article 9 funds under the Sustainable Financial Disclosure Regulation (SFDR). Carbon offtake agreements, often structured as emission reductions purchase agreements (ERPAs), are gaining in complexity to ensure effective management of these projects over the long-term: multi-year, multi-project arrangements involving nature-based solutions and regenerative agriculture require careful structuring.
Yet, whatever the type of project, time invested at project design stage is well spent – bringing together both a clear commercial rationale and a credible route to delivery. This is relevant across clean energy assets, industrial decarbonisation projects, resilience programmes and nature-based initiatives. Success depends not only on identifying an opportunity, but on demonstrating that it can be financed, governed, implemented and operated over time.
The legal framework supporting a project often plays a central role in that assessment. Financing arrangements, contractual risk allocation, governance structures, regulatory compliance and stakeholder engagement all influence the level of confidence in a project's ability to succeed. These factors may prove as important as its underlying technology or environmental outcome.
In a market focused on execution, the projects most likely to proceed effectively will be those with the clearest path from concept to operation.
Is competitiveness becoming the defining sustainability question?
Many of the themes likely to feature at Climate Week NYC 2026, from infrastructure and energy to resilience, investment and regulation, are often discussed separately. In practice, they are inextricably linked.
This reflects a broader change in how organisations approach sustainability and growth. Rather than balancing environmental objectives against commercial performance, there is more of a focus on achieving both. As climate and nature move to the top of board agendas, we're seeing more alignment in decisions around investment, energy, resilience and growth.
Future strategies will be shaped by understanding how these issues interact. Infrastructure investment can support resilience. Energy strategy may determine competitiveness. The allocation of capital will influence future sustainability outcomes. Organisations that consider these issues together are likely to find themselves in a stronger position to respond to regulatory change, market disruption and shifting stakeholder expectations.
The transition is becoming less about individual sustainability initiatives and more about an organisation's ability to operate successfully in a changing economic and regulatory environment. Infrastructure, energy, resilience, capital and regulation are increasingly shaping the same outcome: long-term competitiveness. The question is not simply how organisations respond to these challenges, but how they use them to support growth, resilience and competitive advantage.
Moving from ambition to implementation
Climate Week NYC 2026 is likely to reinforce a shift many businesses are already experiencing: moving from the setting of ambitions to what will support delivery and how to keep sustainability commitments fresh and fit for purpose – the commitments made loud and proud after lockdown may need to adapt and change as we look towards 2030.
As organisations pursue decarbonisation, resilience and sustainable growth objectives, five themes are becoming increasingly interconnected:
- Infrastructure that can support growth and transition plans.
- Energy security and access to reliable, affordable power.
- Resilience to climate, nature and supply chain risks.
- Investment in projects with credible routes to delivery.
- Competitiveness in an evolving economic and regulatory environment.
Together, these themes are shaping where organisations invest, how they manage risk and their ability to create long-term value. That may ultimately be the most important lesson emerging ahead of Climate Week NYC 2026. As the transition evolves, delivery itself is becoming the defining business challenge.
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