Real estate sector continues to lead on sustainability: GRESB

This year’s Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB) reveals that sustainability reporting has improved in coverage and quality of data, with the average overall score increasing due to increasing implementation and measurement.

The average score is now 47 (out of 100) which is up nine points this year. The benchmark collects data from 637 listed property companies and private equity real estate funds, covering 56,000 buildings with an aggregate value of $2.1 trillion.

GRESB found that collectively, in 2013, the commercial real estate sector reduced its energy consumption by about 0.8 per cent, carbon emissions fell by 0.3 per cent, and water consumption fell by 2.3 per cent.

Sustainability is assessed annually by GRESB with a focus on: executive decisions, plans and policies; performance measurement; and stakeholder engagement.

The data provided by GRESB allows pension funds and other institutional investors to incorporate responsible investment principles into their decision-making. It is a source of portfolio-level sustainability data for the real estate industry, with  more than 40 institutional investors, representing $5.5 trillion in assets under management, using it for timely, actionable information about the sustainability performance of property portfolios.

Five years after the launch of the benchmark in 2009, GRESB participation has become standard practice for many of the world’s fund managers and listed property companies. There has been a more than 220 percent increase in response rate since 2009.

Sponsored Content

To view the results click here

 

Leave a Comment

Sort content by

Hintze: people are
hungry for alpha

Interest rate risk is the biggest threat to portfolios and the chances of inflation are very high, according to Michael Hintze, founder and chief executive of CQS, who spoke at the AIMA Australia Hedge Fund Forum on September 10. Hintze believes there is a great deal of moral hazard in today’s markets, mostly in money

Asset owners invisible in capital debate

Asset owners are not visible in the policy debate about the structural shortage of long-term capital, according to Sony Kapoor, managing director of Re-Define, an economic and financial think tank that advises policy makers and civil society in the European Union. Kapoor, who recently completed a paper critiquing the Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund’s investment strategy,

Tapering talk poses tough questions

Talk of tapering sent markets into occasional spins this summer – with negative reactions even following positive economic signals at times. Should institutional investors be concerned though of a seemingly impending slowdown in quantitative easing? Opinions are split as to whether a potentially damaging crash is on the horizon or investors can largely dismiss the

UK funds “profoundly” hurt by low interest rates

In his first major announcement as governor of the Bank of England, Canadian-born Mark Carney says ultra-low interest rates are here to stay. This couldn’t be worse news for pension funds, according to pension’s expert, Ros Altmann, but private-public collaboration on infrastructure could help ease the pain.   The prospect of another three years of

New way for Norway’s investments

The Norwegian government should establish a new fund, the Government Pension Fund – Growth, to invest in developing countries, resulting in the dual benefits of jobs creation and investment returns for the fund, recommends a report by Re-define, commissioned by Norwegian Church Aid. The NCA, which is a member of the humanitarian alliance, Act Alliance,

CalPERS: a new framework of economy

CalPERS has adopted 10 preliminary investment principles following a board offsite in July, but a number of topics, including the role of active management, are still under debate ahead of the September board meeting that is the deadline for the principles’ adoption. The $266-billion Californian fund began the process for establishing investment principles in January

Previous