My prediction for 2026, based on the hard-won truths of 2025—clean energy innovation will continue to outpace expectations.
Just consider two basic pieces of data: Solar power costs less than half what analysts in 2015 predicted it would in 2025. And EV sales make up a quarter of the world’s markets — a threshold forecast initially for 2030. Physics and economics got us to this point, with security and affordability now adding a turbo boost.
These forces are why, despite the U.S. retreat from global climate efforts and the massive challenges that it’s creating, the clean energy transition is unstoppable.
The financial bottom line is also why the private sector is stepping up its efforts to protect water quality, reduce water pollution, and conserve nature. Water and natural ecosystems are fundamental to economic prosperity, and the financial link between water, nature, and climate is increasingly being factored into market growth and risk management strategies.
Given all the dire headlines over the past year, it helps to remind ourselves of major milestones that put our direction into perspective.
In 2025, renewables overtook coal in electricity generation for the first time on record, and solar and wind grew fast enough to meet all the increase in global power demand between January and September. Some regions, such as Europe and the UK, have nearly decarbonized their electricity grids, and innovation and plunging prices are increasingly making clean energy the first choice in rapidly developing parts of the world. The International Energy Agency forecasts renewable energy, particularly solar power, will grow faster than any other major source through 2035.
While sales of gas cars peaked in 2017, electric vehicles are expected to grow at a double-digit clip. EVs make up more than half of all sales in China and just under a third in Europe. But even more revealing is what’s happening in developing countries, from Turkey to Thailand to Ethiopia, where EVs and e-bikes are gobbling up significant market share and driving down oil demand.
Nature and Water: Core Business Strategy
As momentum builds, the same market logic is being applied to nature and water. Growing awareness of the risks posed by nature and biodiversity decline—and the benefits of early action—is spurring private sector action. Our recent analysis shows that, left unchecked, five key drivers of nature loss could cost eight key industries $2.15 trillion by 2030. Recognizing this urgency, leading initiatives are accelerating action. Last year, Nature Action 100, the world’s first and largest investor-led engagement initiative on nature and biodiversity, reported notable progress since its launch in 2022, the Taskforce for Nature-related Financial Disclosures announced that hundreds of organizations are adopting its recommendations, and Business for Nature highlighted strong awareness around integrating nature into climate transition plans.
Corporate water action is also gaining ground. Our latest Valuing Water Finance Initiative benchmark shows that two-thirds of companies improved their performance since 2023. Again, the risks of inaction have become clear—a decline in water availability and an increase in water pollution could put up to 9% of global GDP at risk. Companies, including Danone, Gap, Microsoft, and PepsiCo, recognize that protecting water resources is key to their competitiveness and profitability.
This isn’t the future; this is now. And even in the U.S., clean energy progress keeps marching along. Through November 2025, 92% of new U.S. power capacity additions were solar, wind, or batteries — despite forceful efforts to tilt the table away from renewables. And the U.S. Energy Information Administration expects most new power to come from renewables in 2026, with coal falling and gas staying flat.
This, even though the federal government isn’t just putting the brakes on clean energy and U.S. competitiveness, it’s actively obstructing them at a time when we have every incentive to lead in the clean industries and technologies that will define the 21st century.
