Semiconductors are one such example. Modern energy systems, from wind turbines and solar installations to smart grids, storage, and efficiency technologies, rely on increasingly advanced electronic components. Without them, scaling renewable energy would not be feasible.
This is one reason Domini invests in Monolithic Power Systems. The company designs high-performance power-management semiconductors that make electronic systems smaller, more efficient, and less wasteful. Its chips are used across renewable energy infrastructure — from solar power to wind turbines to battery storage — where they help convert and control electricity with minimal loss. In solar arrays, for example, they increase power output by reducing switching losses and optimizing efficiency, turning more sunlight into usable energy. These are the unseen components that make decarbonization work.
Technology alone, however, cannot deliver the transition. Capital is equally critical. Building renewable energy infrastructure, modernizing grids, and scaling clean transportation require significant and sustained investment. Financial institutions therefore, play a central role in determining how quickly and how effectively the transition unfolds.
Domini’s investment in DNB reflects this perspective. As Norway’s largest financial services group, DNB has committed to financing and facilitating NOK 1.5 trillion (roughly $157 billion) for the sustainable transition by 2030, with renewable energy and infrastructure among its priority areas. DNB supports the low-carbon transition in multiple ways. It lends to customers developing both onshore and offshore wind power projects and, beyond debt financing, helps those customers raise equity, moving capital into large-scale renewable developments. Through its asset management arm, it also offers a dedicated renewable energy fund to both retail and institutional investors, expanding access to transition-related investment opportunities.
This kind of capital allocation is not peripheral; it is decisive. Renewable projects do not move forward without financing, and institutions that prioritize sustainable investments can accelerate deployment at scale.
Taken together, these examples illustrate how Domini’s approach has broadened. The shift is not simply that our fossil fuel screen widened over time, from including select fossil fuel companies to excluding the entire sector, but from sector-based thinking to system-level analysis.
Clean electricity depends on grid infrastructure and efficiency technologies. Wind turbines and solar panels depend on semiconductors. All of these projects depend on financing. Each piece is interconnected, and each represents a potential investment opportunity.
This perspective also reflects a more nuanced understanding of risk. Climate risk is not confined to fossil fuel producers. It extends across supply chains, infrastructure, and capital markets. Conversely, the opportunities associated with the transition are equally distributed across sectors that may not traditionally be labeled “energy.”
For Domini, this means looking beyond conventional classifications and asking a more fundamental question: which companies are enabling a resilient, low-carbon economy based on sustainable energy?
The answer often lies in places that receive less attention. It includes manufacturers of critical components, providers of enabling technologies, and financial institutions that direct capital toward sustainable outcomes.
This is where sustainable investing becomes more demanding and more consequential. Exclusions are relatively straightforward to implement. System-level investing requires deeper analysis, a broader scope, and a willingness to look across traditional boundaries.
It also aligns more closely with our mission. Advancing environmental sustainability and human dignity is about supporting the structures that make a different kind of economy possible.
Investing in a cleaner future means investing in the foundations of tomorrow’s economy and in the companies helping to build it.
Article by Lionella Pezza, Director of Impact Research at Domini Impact Investments LLC. She is responsible for applying Domini’s environmental and social standards to global securities and for leading the activities and business functions of the Domini Impact Research Department, including personnel development, resource deployment, and workflow management.
Ms. Pezza serves as a voting member of Domini’s Standards Committee and Impact Review Committee, as well as a member of the investment team for the Domini Impact Equity Fund.
Prior to joining Domini in 2012, she worked as a human rights and business advisor for the UN Global Compact. Ms. Pezza holds an LL.B. and an LL.M. from the University of Roma Tre, as well as an LL.M. in International Law and Justice from Fordham University School of Law.
Important Information
Before investing, consider the Domini Funds’ investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. Contact us at 1.800.582.6757 for a prospectus containing this and other important information. Read it carefully.
An investment in the Domini Funds is not a bank deposit and is not insured. Investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal. The market value of Fund investments will fluctuate.
As of 6/30/26, Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. represented 0.09% of the Domini Impact Equity Fund’s portfolio, Vestas Wind Systems A/S represented 0.31% of the Domini Impact International Equity Fund’s portfolio and DNB Bank ASA represented 2.60% of the Domini Sustainable Solutions Fund’s portfolio. BP plc was not approved for investment and therefore not held by any of the Domini Funds. The composition of each Fund’s portfolio is subject to change.
This article has been prepared for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice, an offer, solicitation, or recommendation to buy or sell any security, or to adopt any investment strategy. The views expressed herein are those of the author as of the date of publication and are subject to change without notice.
References to companies, indices, or studies are for illustrative purposes only and do not constitute investment recommendations or endorsements. Any references to performance or market data, including information derived from third-party sources, are believed to be reliable; however, their accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed. Past performance is not indicative of future results, and there is no assurance that any investment approach — including sustainable, responsible, or impact investing — will achieve its objectives or provide superior performance relative to other investment strategies. Strategies that incorporate environmental, social, or governance (ESG) factors may limit the universe of available investments and could underperform other strategies that do not consider these factors.
GreenMoney Journal is not affiliated in any way with Domini Impact Investments LLC (Domini). Nothing herein is to be considered a recommendation concerning the merits of any noted company, or an offer of sale or solicitation of an offer to buy shares of any Fund or company referenced herein. Such offering is only made by prospectus, which includes details as to the offering price and other material information.
The Domini Funds are only offered for sale in the United States. DSIL Investment Services LLC, Distributor, Member FINRA. Domini Impact Investments LLC is the Funds’ Adviser. The Funds are subadvised by unaffiliated entities. 9/26
