The buildings and construction sector accounts for nearly 40 percent of total energy-related CO2 emissions and 36 percent of final energy use worldwide.Global building floor area is expected to double by 2050, driving energy demand and related GHG emissions for construction. Yet the building sector offers the largest cost-effective GHG mitigation potential, with net cost savings and economic gains possible through implementation of existing technologies, policies and building designs.
UNEP FI’s work on property investing is undertaken by the Property Working Group (PWG).
Aim of the Property Working Group
- Drive innovation in Responsible Property Investment (RPI) by facilitating access to relevant information and best practice and collaboratively develop the necessary tools to enable property investors and professionals to systematically apply and integrate ESG criteria into investment and lending decisions.
- Promote and encourage RPI by collecting and providing evidence to show how it can protect or increase financial performance throughout the lifecycle of buildings while simultaneously reducing detrimental environmental and social impacts.
- Collaborate with policy-makers and the real estate investment community on developing and establishing the appropriate policy and regulatory frameworks for RPI practices to grow.
Activities
The PWG’s objective is to address the most imminent challenges in the field of sustainable real estate investment through the following focal areas and activities:
Property Sector Response to the COVID-19 Crisis and Recovery
- Publication of a thought leadership bulletin summarising present efforts and strategic thinking from UNEP FI’s Property Working Group members on responding to the coronavirus pandemic and recovery through an ESG integration lens.
Aligning with the Paris Climate Agreement
- Managing physical and transition risks of climate change: piloting an approach to scenario development and portfolio analysis towards a first set of climate-related property investor disclosures in alignment with the recommendations of the Financial Stability Board’s (FSB) Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).
- Survey of real estate investors globally and publication of results on the strategy and practice changes being seen within institutions and across the sector to deepen ESG integration and raise ambition toward meeting the Paris climate goals.
- Capacity building and dissemination of tools: Publication of the Sustainable Real Estate Investment Framework – a step by step guide that real estate investors, their advisors, and asset managers can apply to systematically integrate ESG and climate risks factors into their investment processes.
- Policy engagement: Through the Global Alliance on Buildings and Construction, providing leadership on investment gaps in countries’ NDCs with regards to buildings though contribution to status reports, roadmaps, building data tools, and setting of Science Based Targets for property sector decarbonisation and resilience.
Positive Impact and Financing the SDGs
- Positive impact Initiative: The Positive Impact Initiative is promoting the idea that new lines of
business and impact business models need to be developed and financed to meet the SDGs. To help property investors develop and implement an impact-based approach in their investments, an action-oriented Positive Impact Real Estate Investment Framework has been developed to help guide decisions at any stage of the property investment cycle.
Increasing Investment in Energy Efficiency
- Energy Efficiency: Further promote enabling policies for energy efficiency investment and development of financing tools through participation in the Secretariat of the G20 Energy Efficiency Finance Task Group (EEFTG), and the Energy Efficiency Finance Platform – a new platform for banks, insurers and investors worldwide.
Members of the Property Working Group
- Allianz Real Estate (Allianz SE), Germany
- Aviva Investors (Aviva plc), UK
- Axa Real Estate Managers (Axa – Group Management Services), France
- Bank J. Safra Sarasin AG, Switzerland
- BentallGreenOak, USA & Canada
- BMO Real Estate Partners Asset Management, UK
- BNP Paribas Real Estate Investment Services (BNP Paribas Fortis), France
- Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations, France
- CBRE Global Investors, USA
- CDP Immobiliare Srl, Italy
- City Development Limited, Singapore
- Citibank, USA
- Deutsche Bank/DWS, Germany & USA
- Federated Hermes, UK
- Investa Property Group, Australia
- Japan Real Estate Asset Management Co, Ltd, Japan
- La Française Group, France
- LaSalle Investment Management, USA
- Le Groupe QUARTUS, France
- Lendlease, Australia
- Link REIT, Hong Kong
- M&G Real Estate, UK
- Mitsubishi Corp.-UBS Realty Inc., Japan
- Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corporation, Japan
- Nomura Real Estate Asset Management, Japan
- Nordea Life and Pension, Norway
- Orix Asset Management Corporation, Japan
- Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank Limited, Japan
- Thomas Lloyd, UK
- Trillium Asset Management, UK & USA
- UBS Global Real Estate (UBS AG), Switzerland
- Zurich Insurance Company, Switzerland
Chairs
- Anna Murray, Vice President, Sustainable Investing , BentallGreenOak (2018-2020)
- Calvin Kwan, General Manager, Corporate Development & Strategy, Link REIT (2019-2021)
Advisory Group
- Maria Atkinson, Director, XO (Australia)
- Michael Brooks, CEO of the Real Property Association of Canada (Canada)
- Ryuichi Horie, Co-founder and CEO, CSR Design Green Investment Advisory (Japan)
- Gary Pivo, Professor of Urban Planning and Professor of Natural Resources, The University of Arizona (US)
- Sarah Sayce, Part-time Professor, University of Reading (UK)
Collaboration
One of the key elements for the development of our work on property investment is the active collaboration with market players with an expertise and deep interest in real estate investments.