- Article
- Infrastructure and Sustainable Finance
- Transition to Net Zero
UK investors see sustainability as a primary objective
The latest results from HSBC Global Investment Research’s sustainability survey indicate that UK investors believe finance is the most material factor for driving the net zero transition, with nearly 40% seeing this as the top priority. Alongside Asia, the UK is most likely to see sustainability as a key focus with over a fifth of funds having sustainability as a primary objective.
The majority of respondents incorporate sustainability into investment decisions using a global, firm-wide approach, while also taking local circumstances and markets into consideration. UK investors are no different, with nearly 60% taking a global firm-wide approach.
Support for global standards in disclosures has risen since our last survey in June 2025, even as calls for greater flexibility continue. In the UK, over 50% of investors believe there should be a standard global approach to disclosures.
Sustainability incorporation approaches highlight that integration and engagement are top among methods that investors use for incorporating sustainability decisions globally. We believe this is crucial when applying issues at all stages of the investment process. However, only 20% of UK investors utilise sustainability incorporation as their top approach for decisions, with the most commonly used method in the UK instead being sustainability scoring and ratings at 45%.
Views on regulations; disclosures are divided globally
The survey finds that 55% of UK investors stated better company disclosures as a top priority, wanting more oversight for corporates across sustainability integrity. The majority of UK investors (65%) find regulated corporate disclosures to be helpful. In contrast, global investors find regulated corporate disclosures to be of less importance to investment processes, potentially due to the regulatory burden and the call for rule simplification (and it’s worth noting that, in Europe, we observe a decrease in those finding new rules ‘not helpful’ compared to previous surveys, perhaps suggesting that stakeholders welcome recent simplifications).
Regarding voluntary initiatives on sustainability reporting, a greater share of global investors are finding them ‘not helpful’ to the investment process, notably due to developing compliance regulations. However, the majority of UK investors find the voluntary initiatives to be somewhat or very helpful to the investment process at nearly 70%.
On corporate engagement, results highlight that this has increased at the top end, with more respondents executing engagement activities than previous surveys. Our survey finds that nearly 80% of UK investors engage with corporates on sustainability issues. As scrutiny over sustainability issues intensifies in the UK and regulations further develop, including the Sustainability Reporting Standards (UK-SRS), engagement is of ever-growing importance, in our view.
Sustainability funding is expected to accelerate
Over the next 12 months, the majority of global investors believe funding for the low carbon transition will accelerate or remain stable as certain economies continue to prioritise the transition and finance becomes an increasingly focused topic in climate discussions. Over 50% of UK investors believe funding for the transition will accelerate significantly or somewhat over the next 12 months, with roughly 30% stating that it will remain stable.
UK investors are looking to both government and private market investment to provide this funding, our survey suggests. Indeed, we observe growth in capacity for non‑listed securities when it comes to sustainability-related instruments, indicating success in capacity building and the interest to do so. In the UK, over 70% of investors either already have capacity or are building such to enable growth in these sustainability-related instruments.
Despite just 14% of global investors believing public market instruments will provide funding, UK investors are more hopeful with 38% stating funding for the transition will be provided by public instruments such as labelled bonds and listed equity.
Regional focal points vary
We observe clear differences on sustainability approaches when analysing regional survey results.
- UK investors believe financing the transition is key: Our survey results find that 40% of UK investors believe finance is the most material factor for driving the transition. Indeed, we observe that respondents based in the UK, alongside Asia, are the most likely to see sustainability as a primary objective and to prioritise incorporation of sustainability issues.
- Asia ranked highest on incorporating sustainability into investment decision-making as well as having more funds with sustainability as a primary objective.
- North American investors, by contrast, have deprioritised sustainability as a primary objective relative to other regions − respondents say sustainability is less incorporated and corporate engagement on sustainability issues is reducing. Respondents in this region tend to operate within one region with no global firm-wide approach to sustainability, potentially due to the diverging sustainability landscape in the region.
Source
HSBC-Survation Sustainability Sentiment Survey. The Survey was conducted by Survation from 15 October to 19 November 2025, with a sample size of 267 professionals working in the financial services industry across the globe in roles related to sustainability decision-making. Not every question was asked of every participant, as certain follow-up questions depended on the responses to previously asked questions.
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