The 2024 GRESB Global Results event, held online on October 15, 2024, marked a significant milestone in the real assets sector’s ongoing sustainability efforts. As GRESB celebrated 15 years of setting standards for sustainability performance in real estate and infrastructure, the event highlighted the evolving landscape shaped by investor expectations, regulatory developments, and the growing urgency of climate risks.
Evolving sustainability in real assets
The event presented a comprehensive view of sustainable market transformation, featuring insights from academics and industry experts who have shaped the adoption of sustainable practices across the sector. The focus was on assessing and recognizing how far the industry has come, and the steps needed to meet future sustainability goals.
Impact Evolution: Insights from GRESB’s co-founder
Nils Kok, Professor of Real Estate Finance – Maastricht University, and a GRESB co-founder, discussed the organization’s growth and its shifting definition of impact over the past 15 years. He emphasized the progression from policy-driven initiatives to a deeper focus on measurable sustainability outcomes, noting how sustainability has moved from being a niche concern to a central component of investment strategy, with real estate playing both a challenging and critical role in global climate solutions.
Regional trends and global benchmarking
Chris Pyke, GRESB’s Chief Innovation Officer, and Sarah Blankfield, Manager Member Relations, Oceania, shared key findings from the 2024 GRESB Benchmark, analyzing global and regional trends. Infrastructure showed a year-over-year score improvement of 3.6%, while real estate scores remained stable following adjustments to the GRESB Standard with a median score of 78. They discussed the importance of these results as evidence of long-term investment in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices across more than 80 countries.
Their analysis highlighted advances in asset-level benchmarking, including country-specific performance data and the significance of tracking energy use and greenhouse gas emissions across various property types. Improvements in data coverage and resilience reporting were also noted, underscoring the need for a comprehensive view of sustainability that, critically, considers both operational efficiency and climate-related risks.
Linking GRESB participation to financial outcomes
A session with Nils Kok and Avis Devine, Associate Professor of Real Estate Finance and Sustainability at the Schulich School of Business, explored the connection between sustainability measures and financial performance at the asset level. They demonstrated that integrating ESG factors into investment decisions offers tangible financial benefits, showing how environmental performance can complement economic objectives. Their discussion drew on both academic research and real-world examples to illustrate the financial prudence of sustainable investing.
Future strategies for climate goals
The industry panel featuring a deep bench of participants:
- Sarah Welton, Director, GRESB Foundation
- Parag Cameron-Rastogi, Director Real Asset Analytics, GRESB
- Vincent Felteau, Senior Director, Sustainability and Climate Innovation, PSP Investments
- Maarten Jennen, Senior Director – Strategist, Private Real Estate, PGGM
- Alison Schneider, Senior Fellow, GRESB
The discussion addressed how the sector can collectively achieve climate goals. They covered innovative solutions and the need for unified efforts to drive meaningful progress. The panel emphasized GRESB’s role in promoting best practices and aligning strategies with global sustainability standards.
Looking ahead: 2025 innovations
The event also introduced plans for future enhancements to GRESB benchmarks, with a focus on leveraging data and technology to provide deeper insights and streamline decision-making. Upcoming changes include new performance indicators, simplified reporting processes, and advanced visualization tools, all aimed at improving the quality of sustainability metrics while reducing the burden on reporting entities.
The 2024 GRESB Global Results considered the linking of financial performance with environmental goals, and how the sector is not only building resilience but also taking a leadership role in the global effort to address climate change. The evolving benchmarks and methodologies will continue to guide the industry toward a more sustainable future, with the insights from this event informing ongoing advancements in ESG practices worldwide.
