Conference Presentation, Panel
New Alliances, New Momentum: Investing in Sustainability | Global Conference 2026
Milken InstituteLeslie Kaufman, His Excellency Majid Al Suwaidi, Raphael Arndt, Régine Clément, Peter Seligmann, Frederick Teo, Fred, Regine, Majid
- Energy investment priorities are expected to shift over the coming years toward AI demands and geopolitical conflicts, such as the prolonged Gulf war, which will accelerate regional moves toward energy independence and renewable energy.
- GenZero plans to deploy an initial capital commitment of approximately $3.7 billion USD (derived from 5 billion SGD) across technology solutions, nature, and carbon markets over an extended future period.
- The Future Fund intends to publish a comprehensive responsible investment report within the next few months, aligning capital allocation for energy, transmission, infrastructure, venture capital, and nature with long-term returns for Australian taxpayers.
- AI development is predicted to cause 15 to 20 percent short-term unemployment and compete for capital with supply chain rebuilding and defense infrastructure, potentially driving higher interest rates and inflation, though early adoption may eventually increase productivity and reduce costs.
- Rafe de la Fuente notes that oil-dependent nations in the Gulf and elsewhere will spend capital and years building market and supply chain resilience, with likely inflationary outcomes.
- Fred anticipates that achieving the 1.5°C to 2°C target will be extremely difficult, leading to a 2050 scenario with significantly more atmospheric carbon, necessitating increased focus on adaptation and carbon removals.
- The panel expects private sector capital to drive energy investments despite current headwinds, with future capital flows relying on blended finance and new technical solutions to lower the cost of capital and address the green premium.
- Major economies are expected to require an additional million electricians in the U.S. to support electrification, while Majid El-Souedi calls for government support for all energy forms rather than just mature technologies to meet huge upcoming demand.
- Fusion technology is approaching "Q equals 10" (10 megawatt hours of output for every 1 megawatt hour of input), which Fred expects will become the cheapest, enduring, and secure clean energy source in the long term.
- Peter Seligman predicts that if green energy and regenerative agriculture become the cheapest power sources through research and scaling, they will occur naturally without subsidies.
- A sustainable rice farming project in India is expected to help smallholder farmers transition to alternate wetting and drying practices, reducing water usage by 30 to 50 percent and cutting methane emissions.
- Fred expects Chinese EVs to become the best-selling cars in Singapore in the near future driven by cost competitiveness rather than environmental motivations.
- AI is projected to enable better grid management, new energy-efficient materials, and the analysis of second- and third-order business disruption risks invisible to traditional insurance assessment.
- Regine Palmasio believes that combining data, AI, and evolving reinsurance around risk transfer will unlock senior tranches for private credit, allowing institutional asset owners to fund technologies scaling too slowly.
- Policy frameworks like Payment for Ecosystem Services are expected to encourage nature investments by treating forests as a profit base, while biodiversity may emerge as a stronger currency standard than gold.
- Family investors are changing strategies in response to high uncertainty, particularly regarding the Gulf War, though they remain committed to deploying capital in the space.
- The panel expects data centers to link with commitments to secure forests or watersheds, turning community concerns into benefits through specific strategic moves.
- Peter Seligman highlights a 30 to 50 percent reduction in water usage and methane emissions from specific agricultural practices as a key outcome of nature-based investments that protect the "factory" of clean water, pollinators, and food.
- Vocabulary within the environmental movement is shifting from "climate change" to terms like "nature positive" or "planet and people" to better resonate with investors and the general public.
- Fred predicts that fusion and other technologies will address the green premium, while the investment community has grown capabilities to adapt to challenges despite the 1.5°C to 2°C target becoming extremely difficult.
- Regine Palmasio notes that governments should support outcomes-based projects where 80 to 85% of solutions are available to unlock capital, rather than providing technology-specific subsidies.
- The panel anticipates that AI adoption will involve framing issues correctly and distilling non-obvious insights rather than confirming biases, while guardrails remain a critical unresolved issue for preventing unintended consequences faster than the Industrial Revolution.