Hadja Lahbib, European Union commissioner for preparedness and crisis management, speaking at a session to discuss humanitarian reform at the United Nations headquarters in New York, 23 September 2025. (Geneva Solutions/Paula Dupraz-Dobias)

Humanitarians ready for reset – but what does it mean? As the UN rushes to come up with ideas to reboot the multilateral system, humanitarian leaders say they are ready to put plans in action, beating other sectors to the start line.

🏗️REPAIRING BRIDGES. Sustainability buffs and financiers are huddling in Geneva from Monday to Wednesday for the annual networking conference, Building Bridges, aimed at connecting the city’s two riverbanks – the development and aid ecosystem and the investment club.

But with the political climate this fraught – Trump’s combative speech at the UN General Assembly calling climate change “the greatest con job ever” and green energies a “scam”, while berating European nations for their policy choices was the latest reminder – and UN finances in crisis, it seems like the focus will have to be on defending the progress achieved so far and mending fractures.

Pressure off. Trump’s return has sent a clear message that the winds have shifted. The political pressure that investors once felt to get in line with ESG (environmental, social and governance) standards has eased off, and they are taking note. What continues relentlessly and ever more intensively are the impacts of climate change, and the need for the sector to adapt to a new reality of devastating floods and droughts, scorching temperatures and sea level rise.

VIP guest. John Kerry, the former US secretary of state now heading an investment firm, isn’t too worried – the energy transition will carry on, despite Trump, he believes. He’ll be at the conference on Tuesday to speak about rebuilding trust in sustainability investment, key to ensuring that the transition does happen.

Optimism in fashion: UNDP’s Marcos Neto isn’t worried about a sustainable finance popularity slump

As the Financial Times points out, a new ESG has arrived, less “cuddly” and concerned with aspirational goals and more driven by hard realities like price, security and geopolitics.

– By Michelle Langrand