While the term “ESG” has become increasingly politicized, companies, policymakers and sustainability professionals have gathered in growing numbers at conferences dedicated to climate, sustainable finance, tech and decarbonization solutions in recent years.
Donald Trump’s reelection, buoyed by a Republican-led Congress, has put some corporations into retreat mode, as banks and financial institutions have fled climate alliances and companies continue to backtrack on DEI. Since Trump’s inauguration and subsequent policy changes, how companies grapple with the administration’s change in direction has also been a conversation at sustainability-focused events.
Early agendas showed a growing focus on decarbonizing data centers — along with other hard-to-decarbonize sectors. While artificial intelligence and other hard-to-abate industries remain a topic of discussion, ESG and clean economy professionals are also looking to each other for guidance and collaboration to manage the policy shifts.
Here are some of the most notable ESG and sustainability conferences still to come in 2025. We’ve also included a look back at the top events from the first half of this year.
Top ESG and sustainability conferences in 2025
Global Energy Transition Congress and Exhibition
July 21-23
Javits Center
New York
More than 15,000 attendees are expected at New York City’s Javits Center in July, with the conference set to gather a mix of government representatives, C-suite executives, investors, technologists and more, according to a conference brochure. More than 300 global government ministers and CEOs are expected to speak at the conference this year.
The organizers said the conference will create an opportunity to explore lower carbon solutions and highlight “the urgent need to decarbonize hard-to-abate industries” like cement, steel and heavy-duty transportation.
Global Summit on Climate Change & Environmental Sustainability
Sept. 18-19
Sonesta Los Angeles Airport LAX
Los Angeles
The theme of this second iteration of the summit is "Sustainable Pathways: Innovating for Climate Resilience” and will gather sustainability experts, scientists, academics and industry leaders with the aim of combining diverse expertise for practical climate solutions.
Sessions throughout the two-day summit will focus on carbon reduction initiatives, circular economy practices, renewable energy and resources, green infrastructure and urban planning and several other sustainability-focused topics.
Climate Week NYC
Sept. 21-28
New York
Climate Week NYC 2025 will officially run from Sept. 21-28, as the annual weeklong event will again coincide with the beginning of high-level debates at the annual United Nations General Assembly meeting — set to begin Sept. 23, 2025. The New York City-based event comprised over 600 events across Manhattan’s five boroughs last year, bringing together high-level global policymakers, businesses and civil society sector professionals focused on the climate sector.
“Power On” was announced as the theme for this year’s events, where the organizers hope to work through “challenges and bottlenecks” and find “solutions with leaders from business and politics who have the scale and the influence to drive impact,” according to an email sent to reporters. Here is a round-up of ESG Dive’s coverage of Climate Week NYC 2024.
Sustainable Brands 2025
Oct. 13-16
Town and Country Resort
San Diego
The event will convene global brand and business leaders to discuss corporate strategies, evolving customer demands, shift to circularity and governance. The conference aims to bring together all key components of a business — sustainability, brand, marketing, and innovation — and gives attendees an opportunity to explore frameworks, solutions and insights that help their brands be successful in an ever-changing marketplace.
The speaker roster for the event includes MasterCard Chief Sustainability Officer Ellen Jackowski, Microsoft’s former director of innovation JoAnn Garbin, and several others.
Trellis Impact 25
Oct. 28-30
San Jose Convention Center
San Jose
For the first time ever, Trellis will combine three of its annual conferences — Bloom, Verge and GreenFin — into a singular event hosted at the San Jose Convention Center later this year. There, the typically siloed conferences on corporate biodiversity (Bloom), climate tech (Verge) and sustainable finance (GreenFin) will collide and gather more than 4,000 industry professionals.
Both Verge and GreenFin will have tracks focused on the transition, with Verge tackling the issue from an energy transition angle and GreenFin looking at the transition finance and planning aspect, according to the program description.
UN 2025 Climate Change Conference (COP30)
Nov. 10-21
Belém, Brazil
The United Nations’ annual climate change conference is set to take place in Brazil in 2025, with COP30 serving as the annual venue for global policymakers to determine the next steps for how their countries will handle climate change and the energy transition. Global negotiators approved articles focused on creating a global carbon market at COP29 in Azerbaijan, but ended with a finance deal that critics lambasted as a “failure.”
Global governments are expected to submit their updated Nationally Determined Contributions this year, and how they plan to meet those emissions reduction commitments will likely be a topic of conversation in November. A United States delegation is almost certain to be absent, however, after President Trump pulled the U.S. from the Paris Agreement in an executive order on his first day in office.
Here’s ESG Dive’s rundown of COP29’s biggest news.
A look back at ESG conferences from the first half of 2025
Cleantech Forum North America
Jan. 27-29
Paradise Point Resort & Spa
San Diego
Cleantech Forum North America brought together a max of 700 corporates, entrepreneurs and professional services, government, academic and nonprofit experts. The event focused on what’s next in sustainable innovation, with U.S.-centered sessions on the agenda for 2025, as well as a heavy focus on decarbonizing areas and sectors including data centers, maritime, aviation and heavy duty fleets.
Cleantech’s speakers included CEOs from a number of clean tech and energy companies including sustainable aircraft manufacturer Natilus CEO Aleksey Matyushev, as well as representatives from a variety of institutions funding the transition.
Greenbiz25
Feb. 10-12
JW Marriott Desert Ridge
Phoenix
Greenbiz25 gathered sustainable business professionals and leaders from all sectors and job functions, including CEOs, CFOs, COOs, CIOs, heads of legal, supply chain, human resources and investor relations. The conference, hosted by Trellis (formerly Greenbiz) included experts from a variety of sectors focused on sharing sustainability strategies and insights for decarbonization, disclosure, nature and more.
2025’s keynote sessions featured sustainability officers from Netflix, Whole Foods and Universal Music Group, as the private sector shared lessons learned from the evolution of sustainability issues and what opportunities lie ahead this year.
Here is a roundup of ESG Dive’s coverage from Greenbiz24.
Responsible Investment Forum: New York
March 4-5
Convene, 117 West 46th Street
New York
The Responsible Investment Forum brought together around 500 sustainable finance professionals and thought leaders for conversations on investment approaches to decarbonization and net-zero, as well as biodiversity and sustainable investing in North America. The two-day conference, hosted by business intelligence firm PEI Group, drew a crowd of institutional investors, fund managers and other industry experts.
2025’s forum focused on how companies address sustainability issues in the future, given the changing political environment in the U.S. and North America broadly. Speakers included ESG principals and sustainable finance professionals from financial institutions including Bain & Company, KKR, Apollo Global Management, Ares Management and more.
Wall Street Green Summit
March 18-19
Cornell Club
New York
The 2025 Wall Street Green Summit was the 24th annual event focused on the intersection of sustainable finance and technology hosted by climate activist Peter Fusaro. The 2025 agenda included topics like AI, climate tech, carbon trading platforms, pricing climate risk into markets and “harmonizing” ESG standards.
The two-day conference included sessions on ESG investing, meeting rising energy demands and speakers included Marsh McLennan Senior Director of Sustainability Shea Jameel and distributed energy platform GridMarket’s CEO Nick Davis.
EarthX2025
April 21-25
Hilton Anatole
Dallas
The EarthX2025 Congress of Conferences will brought together business professionals, environmentalists, leading climate scientists and federal agency and government leaders for an environmental solutions-focused conference. The conference is also typically attended by conservationists, academics, advocates, non-governmental organizations and policymakers in the environmental sector.
2025 ESG Summit
April 24-25
Westin New York at Times Square
New York
The Conference Board’s 2025 ESG Summit explored the evolving role of the private sector in environmental action, with a focus on “humanizing” environmental issues. Business leaders like CEOs and COOs gathered with corporate sustainability officers, legal officers and general counsel and HR professionals, as well as tech innovators and government affairs professionals.
The two-day conference included sessions about increasing corporate transparency and accountability, as well as navigating changing investor demands.
DC Climate Week
April 28-May 2
Washington, D.C.
The nation’s capital hosted its first-ever climate week this spring, bringing climate experts, organizations and other sector leaders to Washington, D.C. The five-day climate event focused on climate innovation and sustainable solutions, and featured a broad range of clean economy participants and experts, as well as a surprise appearance from Bill Nye.
Here’s a roundup of ESG Dive’s coverage from the event, including a look at how the week came together
Sustainability Week US
June 11-12
Convene New York and New York Yacht Club
New York
The Economist hosted a two-day Sustainability Week in New York to bring together businesses, policymakers and government. The 2025 event included an Energy Transition Summit, consisting of 50 one-on-one meetings with the organization’s “Energy Leaders Club.”
The event’s agenda included a day of invite-only sessions with the top 50 energy executives and top 80 chief sustainability officers to discuss challenges on how to navigate the U.S. energy transition and global supply chain demands, respectively. Sessions the following day explored the clean energy transition, as well as aligning sustainability rules, using nuclear for AI, and more.
Sustainability Research and Innovation Congress
June 16-20
Sheraton Grand Chicago Riverwalk
Chicago and online
2025 marked the first time the Sustainability Research and Innovation Congress was held in the United States, after the prior four were held in Australia, South Africa, Panama and Finland. Past congresses have each drawn around 2,000 attendees from over 100 countries, representing global industries, governments and government agencies, civil and Indigenous organizations, as well as climate researchers and entrepreneurs.
The inclusive sustainability focused conference was a hybrid event, with virtual and satellite sessions planned. One of the satellite conferences took place in Nairobi, Kenya from June 4-6 and was also streamed online.
Responsible Business USA 2025
June 23-24
New York Marriott Marquis
New York
Responsible Business USA 2025, hosted by Reuters, gathered CEOs, senior sustainability, legal, communications and finance executives in sessions on interpreting the changing regulatory landscape and policy impacts; implementing sustainability goals; innovating through AI and new forms of clean energy; and using sustainability data to tell a compelling narrative and inspire action.
This year’s speakers included sustainability officers from Allstate, Danone USA and Warner Music Group, as well as Ceres CEO Mindy Lubber and former White House Climate Advisor Gina McCarthy. Keynotes focused on how to navigate the federal leadership change in the U.S., along with the intersection of AI and sustainability, and more.
Here is a roundup of ESG Dive’s coverage from Responsible Business USA 2024.
