EMEA Sustainability: Sustainability Brief vol.15

Research evidence excerpt

EMEA Sustainability: Sustainability Brief vol.15

Global Research

24 July 2026ab

EMEA Sustainability Equities

Europe including UKSustainability Brief vol. 15

Global Sustainability

Charles Fruitiere

This is the final edition of the Sustainability Brief before our summer break. Publication Analyst

will resume with Volume 16 on 4 September. We wish all our readers an enjoyable charles.fruitiere@ubs.com

summer and look forward to reconnecting in September. +44-20-7567 4123

Alisa Dudchak

Investor feedback Analyst

alisa.dudchak@ubs.com

+44-20-7567 0844

This week we hosted our Summer ESG Breakfast, bringing together investors to discuss

some of the key sustainability themes that shaped the first half of 2026. The discussion Victoria Kalb

spanned a variety of topics from defence, nuclear and fusion, forced labour and ESG Analyst

vicki.kalb@ubs.com

ratings, to El Niño, net zero, the energy transition and SFDR.

+65-6495 4584

Defence, a changing debate: Investors were keen to understand whether

defence remains a key consideration for ESG investors and whether exclusion

policies have evolved following the European Commission's clarification that Thi

sustainable finance frameworks do not prohibit investment in the defence sector. s is an

The discussion highlighted a more pragmatic interpretation focused on European ImageM security, resilience and strategic autonomy.

Nuclear and fusion: Investors were keen to understand how quickly nuclear

capacity can be expanded in Europe and whether current expectations are overly

optimistic. Discussions focused on the maturity of SMR technologies, the progress

made in fusion, and the lessons learned from large-scale reactor projects. A

recurring question was whether future reactors can be delivered more quickly as