Global Sustainability "ESG news & views, Vol. 54, June 2026" Kalb

Research evidence excerpt

Global Sustainability "ESG news & views, Vol. 54, June 2026" Kalb

earlier report on ME here).

Americas Decarb Ideas Refresh Post 1Q'26 Earnings

We see this as an environment where three mega trends (AI, Energy Independence, and

Energy Transition) are converging with duration that should lead to both positive

earnings revisions and multiple expansion for many in the Decarb Universe (currently

172). Many had opined, with the WH change in ‘25, that Decarbonization would be

“de-emphasized.” However the onset of AI and its thirst for power, and resulting need

for energy efficiency, more than kept it alive, and flourishing. Case in point: the Decarb

Ideas List has materially outperformed the S&P both YTD and since the start of the ME

conflict, and we see plenty of scope for this trend to continue. The ME conflict has

catalyzed an environment whereby countries must seek LT solutions to diversify away

from the ME, which we outlined in our Morning After note and while it will include

some O&G drilling elsewhere, it opens the door to an acceleration of many transition

opportunities like EVs, diesel replacement like RD, and most importantly, energy

efficiency which is basically the only solution in an environment where the US could not

feed its AI power habit above 3.5% power demand growth. At this level it exhausts all

borderline baseload options, which we recently outlined in our Power Capex Dispatch

Curve in our note "How could half a trillion dollars of Power Capex be spent by '30?"

Key investor questions & takeaways - Power demand, AI and capex

We hosted the first session of our Monthly Decarb Energy Strategy Update, featuring

William Appicelli (US Utilities Analyst) and Shneur Gershuni (US Decarb Strategist),