2025 in review: Venari Partners' Sustainability & Energy Transition practice

We can say it now: 2025 has been a challenging year for professionals working within sustainability, climate, and energy transition, and it got off to a particularly rocky start. Geopolitical uncertainty weighed over the job market, particularly during the first six months of the year with those working in sustainability having braced themselves for a bumpy ride after Donald Trump’s election victory in November 2024. Whilst it was understood that this would have anegative impacton climate policy, there was some hope the new administration might be good for the economy. Fast-forward to the market chaos sparked by the ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs in April, and the decline in hiring confidence was clear to everyone.

Moving past uncertainty

Despite a challenging first half of the year, the leadership hiring market has picked up considerably in the last six months and we are entering 2026 with a cautious optimism that there will be a continued uptick through Q1. At the start of the summer, it became clear that the sky hadn’t fallen in and that the world was still spinning, despite the turbulence of the preceding months. Furthermore, an overarching theme for 2025 has been that ‘good business remains good business’; with the pushback on the ESG agenda, leaders have been forced to sharpen their focus on core activity, products and services.

In the current landscape, this means a laser-sharp focus on value creation, efficiency and risk management. Increasingly, I’m seeing a shift towards pragmatism. That translates into less coverage on sustainability being worthy for communications and PR, and more on core business questions about what companies and individuals are doing to help make and/or save money and protect the business.

Whilst it’s easy to label climate change as ahoax, the science points inone direction. Institutions and companies are realising, increasingly, thatclimate riskis financial risk, and that effective management of these risks will require adaptation and mitigation. Furthermore, there is remarkable innovation taking place as the businesses of the future scale, and there are strong investment opportunities within the sustainability sector. People are ready to kick on – which is music to my ears, particularly given that most of the new work we’re taking on is in the US. The negative impact of policy shifts out of the region sent the market in the wrong direction early in 2025, but my hope is that continued innovation and investment will cause further growth in these industries.

A more hopeful picture

The tone shift at the start of Q3 has led to a significant increase in job flow and proposals that I saw from the autumn onwards. The market is still challenging overall, but there is a lot more optimism going into 2026 than we had this time last year. There are no quick wins, however. Rather, in these tricky times, clients are being extra specific about who they’re looking to hire (something that I’ve also heard colleagues in other sectors discuss;Mark Collinsmade this very point in hisroundupof the year in retail and consumer goods). Where previously organisations might have looked at the bigger picture and didn’t necessarily care about ticking every box when it came to recruiting, now they’re scrutinising every detail of applicants’ CVs, experience, and skillsets. With the way the hiring landscape is at the moment, if you don’t meet every requirement (and  more), it’s highly unlikely you’ll be hired.

Further focus on value creation

A recentreportfrom Deloitte notes that while hiring volume has cooled from the surge of the previous few years, activity remains significantly higher than pre-pandemic levels. While there have been some more pronounced dips this year, it seems that sustainability hiring is levelling out rather than outright contracting.

In a buyer’s job market, sustainability candidates looking for new roles need to reflect on the value that they bring to an employer. Having very clear and prepared answers on what they’ve had responsibility for and personally delivered that has moved the dial, and how they’d take this to a prospective hirer is essential. Just as important is the need to think carefully and strategically about next career steps. Being selective in tough times is key for ambitious and focused sustainability professionals. At the moment, it’s less about big leaps in role and content than an acknowledgment that you’ll likely be hired on the back of what you’ve done over the last few years; how you push that forward and develop it is what companies are looking to find out.

Recently, we’ve been succeeding in introducing clients to candidates where the value proposition is extremely clear and what they can contribute is evident from the get-go. That’s extended to where I’ve been doing most of my work lately: predominantly, with scaleups that are working in exciting and developing areas like electrification, batteries, storage, carbon markets, and especially sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

Lots to report on

It's been a busy year for events. I was delighted toco-host a roundtableon scaling up SAF in London recently, as well as another roundtable with McKinsey earlier in the year. Apart from theWorld Aviation Festivalin Lisbon in October, the highlight of 2025 for me was undoubtedly IATA’s World Sustainability Symposium in Hong Kong.

Apart from the Symposium representingmy first timein a truly incredible city, the event was very positive from a global perspective on decarbonisation. It was great to see and speak to stakeholders from all over the world, including the US, China, and Saudi Arabia, among others: all contributing actively and focused on the opportunity that the current sustainability space offers, while recognising its challenges. All the American airlines I spoke to, for example, acknowledged the ‘vibe shift’ away from speaking openly about sustainability and signalling their dedication to it out loud; instead, they’re continuing the work they were doing previously in addition to launching new initiatives and investments, albeit much more quietly. The exception to this was theannouncementof oneworld’s SAF investment fund with Breakthrough Energy Ventures, where it was inspiring to see American Airlines and Alaska Airlines publicly state the commitment to decarbonising aviation.

The view from Venari Partners

For my part, I will underline that I feel optimistic going into the new year. My new colleagueNatalia Ganowicz, who has recently joined Venari Partners as Sustainable Chemicals & Fermentation Consultant, reflects our growing confidence in sustainability as a whole. I am also looking forward to working with our new ResearcherMinael Shahzadi, who has just joined the company to work alongside myself andPete Keller. The message I want to continue in 2026 is one I mentioned earlier: good business is good business! There are simply too many excellent opportunities and fascinating research in sustainability to ignore, and I am keen to continue my mission to spread that message far and wide next year.

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