Global Sustainability ESG news & views, Vol. 58, July 2026

Research evidence excerpt

Global Sustainability ESG news & views, Vol. 58, July 2026

and activity, e.g. in the US, UK, Germany, Japan and recent developments in China.

Demand for power (especially clean, "abundant" and baseload), with AI as an

important driver (e.g. Google signed a power purchase agreement with CFS and

recently participated in Proxima Fusion funding round).

Key recent developments (since ESG team's last fusion note)

Over 1bln USD of funding announced by private fusion companies (in the last

three months), incl. in the US (Thea Energy, Helion) and Europe (Proxima Fusion

(this round includes RWE (25mln EUR investment) and Google as strategic

investors) and Focused Energy (also includes RWE with further 60 mln EUR

investment, following its initial investment in Oct'25)).

Policy support: In Jun'26 US DoE published Fusion Roadmap, a national strategy

"to accelerate the development and commercialization of fusion energy by the

mid-2030s." The strategy outlines comprehensive steps required to commercialize

fusion but does not commit any funding.

Q-Series: Nuclear fusion: From science to investable theme (Ken Liu)

We believe the market could be behind the curve as fusion shifts from a lab experiment

to commercial reality as a carbon-free baseload power source. Our view is supported by

three key developments over the past three years. 1) Technology: we have seen record

plasma duration and net energy gain of Q>1. 2) Spending: capex grew 3x YoY in 2025

on hyperscaler demand, and we expect it could compound 70% annually over 2026-

30E to US$37bn by 2030, with equipment TAM reaching US$15bn by 2030. 3) Strong

government support in the US, UK and China. We see most investors as still under-

exposed, with their view anchored to an uncertain commercial timeline given early stage