What’s Behind Apollo’s US$30bn ESG and Climate Investment?
Apollo Global Management has released its 16th Annual Sustainability Report titled Driving a More Sustainable Future.
The report sets out Apollo’s ambition to lead in sustainability across asset classes by scaling data reporting, expanding climate risk assessment tools and delivering long-term capital solutions for a changing world.
Data and transparency
Apollo has continued to institutionalise sustainability across its global platform through greater data transparency, enhanced systems and new toolkits designed to accelerate value creation.
In 2024, the firm delivered sustainability reports to investors across more than 150 products, made possible by significant internal upgrades to its data engineering capabilities.
This marks a twenty-fold increase in its ability to provide timely and detailed ESG disclosures.
The report highlights how Apollo has implemented new frameworks across its portfolio companies, including a Scope 3 GHG emissions toolkit and a comprehensive health and safety playbook.
“I’m extremely proud to share Apollo’s 16th Annual Sustainability Report, the product of collaboration across strategies, time zones and hundreds of colleagues committed to advancing our firm’s ecosystem approach to sustainability across our operations and investing,” writes Dave Stangis, Chief Sustainability Officer at Apollo on LinkedIn.
“This year’s report highlights how we’re scaling reporting efforts to increase transparency, developing new tools for value creation and expanding risk assessment and value creation capabilities across our teams.”
These initiatives aim to guide management teams on how to address climate-related risks while improving operational resilience and employee wellbeing.
Moreover, Apollo expanded the boundaries of its Scope 3 emissions accounting to include emissions from purchased goods and services, upstream transport, fuel usage, operational waste and other indirect activities.
This expanded methodology revealed that Apollo’s Scope 3 footprint for 2024 reached 180,563 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent.
The firm maintained carbon-neutral operations for Scope 1 and 2 emissions by using carbon removal projects, including those developed by CarbonCure Technologies and Chestnut Carbon, to offset remaining emissions.
Shifting global landscape
Apollo’s investment strategy reflects a deliberate focus on capital deployment in sectors critical to the global energy transition, digital infrastructure and industrial resilience.
“Since Apollo’s founding 35 years ago, we continue to challenge assumptions, identify white space and bring innovative solutions to the market,” says Marc Rowan, CEO of Apollo, in the report.
“With our integrated approach, we believe Apollo is uniquely positioned to drive positive impact through everything we do, from how we invest, to how we lend, to how our Firm operates globally.
“The world has changed a lot in the past 35 years. In today’s financial landscape, the only constant is change.
“As we look to the big opportunities ahead of us, we believe that the capital needed for infrastructure, energy transition and next-generation data and power, now known as the ‘Global Industrial Renaissance’, will scale materially.”
In pursuit of this vision, Apollo committed or deployed US$30bn in clean energy and climate-related investments throughout 2024.
This positions the firm firmly on track to meet its broader goal of investing US$100bn in energy transition solutions by 2030.
A key transaction includes the acquisition of a 50% stake in a 2 GW solar and battery storage portfolio operated by TotalEnergies in Texas.
Another being a US$300m strategic financing package for SunPower to support the growth of residential solar and battery deployment in the United States.
Mobilising private capital
As conventional financing channels struggle to meet the growing infrastructure and sustainability needs of the 21st century, Apollo is using its scale and agility as a private capital provider to close critical investment gaps.
“We aim to be a partner of choice in the new economy, where energy demands are growing,” comments Scott Kleinman, Co-President of Apollo Asset Management.
“Our strengths, long-term, flexible capital; deep client relationships; and a solutions-oriented mindset, coupled with our sustainability expertise, allow us to address complex, large-scale financing needs that public markets cannot address alone.”
Apollo’s total assets under management reached US$751bn in 2024, with significant allocations directed towards climate-aligned investments across its Credit, Equity and Real Assets divisions.
The firm also conducted climate scenario analysis on US$58bn in assets, using NGFS pathways to evaluate how investment portfolios may respond under different climate transition outcomes, from orderly adjustments to disorderly shocks.
In parallel, Apollo enhanced its internal decision-making tools to include environmental risk flagging, carbon benchmarking and financial modelling of emissions reduction scenarios, enabling more informed engagement with portfolio companies.
Advancing the energy transition
Apollo’s approach to sustainability is not limited to environmental targets but includes a broad agenda to support inclusive growth, workforce opportunity and social impact across its investment ecosystem.
“Apollo plays a key role here. Private capital is essential to bridging the gap where traditional funding falls short and we see opportunities to deploy long-term capital in ways that drive both strong returns and meaningful value creation,” says Dave.
“One of the biggest areas is in advancing the energy transition where we are investing in scalable, resilient solutions that will power industries for decades.
“As these needs grow, we’re well positioned to help shape the next era of industrial investment.”
In support of this ambition, Apollo launched Apollo Empower, a cross-portfolio initiative focused on improving job quality, wages and training opportunities for workers at portfolio companies.
The firm also made strides in community engagement, with more than 20,400 hours volunteered by Apollo employees in 2024 across more than 300 service events.
Through the Athene United Way campaign alone, Apollo’s staff raised more than US$3m to support local communities, with 92% employee participation.
Diversity and inclusion remain a priority, with 43% of Apollo’s global workforce identifying as women and 28% of US employees identifying as ethnically diverse.
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