Powering On: New York Climate Week Signals a Renewed Commitment to Real Assets and Decarbonization

New York Climate Week (2025) | Industry Insights

by Alexandra Faciu

Montréal, Canada

A few weeks ago, New York City was the place where people from all over the world came together to talk about global issues, climate and sustainability. Heads of state, industry leaders, and sustainability advocates gathered for the United Nations General Assembly and the 17th edition of New York Climate Week. This year’s theme, “Power On”, was more than just a slogan. It was a call to action that showed the growing support for clean energy, climate finance, technology and green jobs.

My primary objective in attending this landmark event was to engage in conversations surrounding the built environment, while also paying close attention to emerging trends that could potentially accelerate decarbonization in our industry. As a sustainable asset and portfolio management professional, my primary focus is on identifying optimal strategies for retrofitting existing assets and developing new sustainable buildings, both strategies designed to achieve net zero targets within portfolios by leveraging the financial aspects behind value creating and protection of assets and portfolios. I have attended a couple of sessions on these topics, one organized by the International Code Council , RICS , AIA New York | Center for Architecture and Gensler , and the other by the Empire State Realty Trust . I will be detailing these themes further in upcoming posts for SAM Curated, but two broader signals from Climate Week deserve to be highlighted.

First, I share the sentiment expressed by a business partner in one of his LinkedIn posts: there is a quiet determination among market participants to pursue net zero strategies, irrespective of headwinds. At last year’s CREtech Conference, I heard leaders from local and state agencies affirm their commitment to climate plans, with or without federal support. Nearly a year later, Climate Week confirmed that those promises weren’t just rhetoric. Market participants with high conviction, including these agencies, have stayed the course and will continue to stay the course.

Second, we are witnessing the rapid convergence of real estate and infrastructure investment. Major asset managers such as Blackstone, BlackRock and Brookfield are investing heavily in clean energy portfolios and sustainable financing instruments. Brookfield recently closed its $20 billion Global Transition Fund II, reportedly the world’s largest private fund dedicated to the energy transition. (Link to the article here.) Meanwhile, BlackRock and CPP Investments’ acquisition of Allete, the parent company of Minnesota Power, signals a growing interest in utility-scale assets. (Click here for the full article.)

This shift is not just about capital; it’s about strategy. Institutional investors, particularly pension funds, began merging their real estate and infrastructure teams into unified Real Assets divisions years ago. Now, the rest of the market is catching up. The benefits of treating real assets as a cohesive investment class are becoming increasingly clear, especially in the context of climate resilience and long-term value creation.

At SAM Curated, we will continue to track these developments across the built environment. The convergence of infrastructure and real estate, coupled with unwavering net zero commitments, will redefine our collective approach to sustainability, investment and impact. These themes are not only relevant to the present moment, but they also have the potential to be transformative in the near future.

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