Five Questions We Are Hearing About Sustainability

We have always viewed sustainability as a lever for protecting our clients’ capital and creating value over time. As our platform continues to grow, in early 2026, I was asked by the partnership to take on an expanded role as KKR’s Head of Sustainability, while continuing to serve as Global Co-Head of our Climate Transition strategy. In this role, I work closely with our business and regional leaders to advance firm-wide sustainability efforts with a clear focus on business-aligned outcomes.

In conversations with investors and management teams, a consistent set of questions has emerged, reflecting an emphasis on how sustainability integration shows up in practice. Here are five questions we hear most often, and how we think about them. 

1. How do you navigate a complex and quickly evolving sustainability landscape?

We approach sustainability integration the same way we approach any investment decision: through a materiality lens.

For us, this is not a box-checking exercise. It starts with our commitment to protect capital and create value for our clients and consists of identifying what is most important to a business and its long-term performance.

That requires context. Priorities are shaped by sector dynamics, regional regulation, externalities, risks, and stakeholder expectations, all of which continue to evolve. Staying close to those shifts is a key part of our work.

We maintain a consistent global strategy but apply it with local nuance. Depending on the region of the world, sustainability discussions can be driven by regulation and transparency expectations; by commercial considerations, such as export competitiveness and customer requirements; and/or by operational drivers, including human capital management and physical climate risk.

Regular engagement with investors, shareholders, and the communities where we operate helps us keep that perspective current.

2. Can sustainability and strong financial performance go hand-in-hand, and how is value created during ownership?

In our experience, the two are closely aligned.

A materiality-driven approach supports risk management and long-term growth by focusing on the sustainability factors that matter most. For example, this may involve assessing the impact of extreme weather on real estate assets, evaluating consumer lending practices within financial services investments, or monitoring health and safety performance across infrastructure assets. Managing these risks and opportunities helps reinforce resilience while often revealing practical ways to improve how a business operates — from lowering costs to strengthening employee engagement and efficiency.

During our ownership, we focus on improving material topics identified during diligence — such as employee engagement, physical climate risk, and the understanding and mitigation of externalities — and embedding these priorities into day-to-day execution through data, resources, and ongoing engagement with management teams, where applicable. These efforts are built into value creation plans and often drive operational performance, new revenue opportunities, and stronger talent outcomes.

At the same time, understanding and managing risks remains central. Many of the same factors that create opportunity also influence how a business performs under stress, whether through operational disruption, cost volatility, or changing market expectations.

Taken together, this work helps translate these priorities into practical actions that strengthen both day-to-day performance and long-term positioning.

3. How does sustainability show up in investment decisions?

It is embedded throughout the investment life cycle, from diligence to exit.

Before an investment, we assess how sustainability-related factors could affect performance over time. That includes identifying both potential risks and opportunities in the context of the specific asset, sector, and geography.

One example is physical climate risk. We look at how hazards such as extreme weather, flooding, or heat stress could affect operations, supply chains, or costs. These considerations can influence underwriting assumptions and help shape how we think about long-term value.

After an investment, the focus shifts to execution. We assess exposure and, where appropriate, work with portfolio companies to evaluate existing mitigation measures and identify ways to strengthen resilience where it matters most.

This work is owned by our investment teams and supported by dedicated sustainability professionals who help ensure these considerations remain integrated into how decisions are made and managed. Our Responsible Investment Policy articulates this approach, providing a clear framework for how sustainability considerations are integrated across asset classes.

4. How do you approach data collection?

We focus on data that helps inform decisions. Each year, we collect sustainability data across our portfolio companies, which provides consistent, comparable sustainability insights. This data is used to support investment decision-making, portfolio engagement, regulatory reporting, and overall capital protection.

Our approach is grounded in materiality, with a focus on indicators that can help inform action and influence outcomes. Certain metrics, such as financed emissions, help us understand where to prioritize engagement, particularly for higher-emitting assets. Other operational data points can highlight opportunities to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and strengthen performance.

We aim to keep that balance by ensuring there is enough rigor to support decision-making while focusing on what is most useful in practice.

5. Where are you seeing the biggest opportunities ahead?

In my role as Global Co-Head of KKR’s Climate Transition strategy, I spend a lot of time looking at where long-term demand is emerging and how that connects to investment opportunity.

We are seeing strong momentum in areas tied to the physical economy. This includes the electrification of transportation and heat, improving energy efficiency in data centers, and strengthening the reliability of energy systems. These trends are shaped by growing demand for energy security, affordability, and sovereignty, while creating value for our investors.

Deploying capital into assets and businesses that support decarbonization, resource efficiency, and more reliable energy systems remains a key area of focus across our strategies. Our Global Impact team recently exited an investment in CoolIT, a company focused on improving energy efficiency in data centers, generating approximately 15x the original equity invested — one of KKR’s largest recent realizations. The business helps reduce energy and water use in high-performance computing environments, a clear example of how improving resource efficiency can create value.

We are also seeing opportunities in real estate, where improving building efficiency and performance can contribute to both cost savings and long-term asset quality. For example, within Robin, our UK hospitality portfolio, we implemented a targeted program of energy efficiency and sustainability initiatives aimed at reducing energy use, enhancing asset resilience, and improving energy performance certificate (EPC) performance, while also generating attractive financial returns.

Ultimately, our focus remains consistent: applying a disciplined, materiality-driven approach to manage risk, support performance, and create long-term value, with an emphasis on opportunities where sustainability helps drive tangible business outcomes.