2020 GRESB Results and the next stage of our evolution
It’s been an intense period for GRESB over the past few weeks with the announcement of our new ownership and governance structure coming hot on the heels of the 2020 Results Release.
Here are the latest updates:
Announcing a new era for GRESB
Last week, we made an exciting announcement about our future covering three important changes to GRESB.
First, we are establishing an independent GRESB Foundation to own and govern the GRESB Standards on which the Assessments are based. All GRESB members and partners will be part of the Foundation. The Foundation Board will have broad representation from across GRESB Investor Members to ensure that the Standards remain investor-led, mission-driven and responsive to investor needs. The existing Real Estate and Infrastructure Advisory Boards and Benchmark Committees (renamed as Standards Boards and Standards Committees respectively) will be formalized under the governance of the Foundation and continue to oversee the development and maintenance of the Standards. We aim to have the GRESB Foundation, and its governance and committees, in place by year end 2020.
Second, GRESB BV will become a benefit corporation and seek formal B-Corp certification to ensure accountability for our mission over the long term. We will move to a dual board governance structure with a Supervisory Board and Management Board. The Supervisory board will guide the Management Board and ensure we fulfil our mission.
Third, supported by our investment partner, Summit Partners, we will invest in our data science and technology capabilities, expand the benchmark coverage and improve our processes so that we can better support our members and partners in their reporting efforts.
The 2020 GRESB Results are out
We’re pleased to announce that 2020 GRESB results for Infrastructure and Real Estate are now out. We would like to congratulate all our members and partners for taking part in the benchmark and thank all our stakeholders for their support and collaboration as we worked through the challenges of this year’s results release period.
Take a look at the public results pages and news releases:
Public results: 2020 Real Estate Results (Regional coming soon)
Public results: 2020 Infrastructure Results
News release: 2020 Real Estate Results
News release: 2020 Infrastructure Results
More 2020 Results Events to come
So far this month we have held 8 results events covering different regions around the world. It’s great to see the high turnout – the EMEA Real Estate event earlier this week had more than 450 attendees. We’re still only halfway through our calendar, with 9 more results events taking place over the next few weeks.
We have lots of work ahead of us as we take stock of what we learned this year and take the necessary steps to support the industry in a smooth transition to sustainable real assets.
Thank you for your time and attention.
Kind regards
The GRESB team
ESG Public Disclosure Results are available in the Portal for listed real estate and infrastructure companies
Each year, GRESB evaluates the level of public ESG disclosures by listed real estate and infrastructure companies. The Public Disclosure Levels (ranked from A to E) are now available in the GRESB Portal.
GRESB Investor Members use this data to compare the ESG transparency of listed companies. It is also being used by a growing number of ESG indices using GRESB data, including the new GLIO/GRESB INDEX, the first specialist global listed infrastructure ESG focused index being launched later this year.
Infrastructure Investor releases 2020 Sustainable Investing Report
This year’s Sustainable Investing Report from Infrastructure Investor considers how covid-19 could be the catalyst for a green future; how to promote good governance; and looks at LPs leading the climate change charge – plus much more. Rick Walters, GRESB’s Director Infrastructure wrote an article for the report commenting on the readiness of the Infrastructure asset class for the coming EU regulations.
Subscribers of Infrastructure Investor can access the report by clicking here – non-subscribers/members of GRESB are welcome to contact [email protected] directly for a copy of the report.
CFA AOS SDG-ESG Infrastructure Investment Framework to assess contribution to SDGs
GRESB has partnered with AOAC (Asset Owners Advisory Council), CFA Asset Owners Council, AOS (Asset Owner Series), University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL), Africa investor (Ai) and other organisations as part of a high level “Brain Trust” to develop a framework for asset owners to measure the contribution of infrastructure assets and projects on the delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals.
Upcoming Events and Webinars
- Real Estate & Infrastructure Results – Nordics | November 26
- Real Estate Results – France | December 1
- Real Estate Results – Americas | December 1
- Real Estate Results – Greater China | December 1
- Real Estate Results – Spain | December 2
- Real Estate Results – Germany | December 3
- Real Estate Results – Italy | December 10
- Real Estate Results – Japan | December 14
Infrastructure Investor New York Summit: Virtual Experience | December 2-3
- The thirteenth annual event brings together the leading community of institutional investors, fund managers, and policy makers to debate the future of North American infrastructure investing. GRESB’s Rick Walters will be moderating the ESG focused recovery beyond renewables panel on December 3 at 10:40 AM ET.
WBA Alliance: a community for, by and with you to achieve the SDGs
The World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA) is hosting a virtual event “WBA Alliance: a community for, by and with you to achieve the SDGs,” on Tuesday, 8 December, from 14:00 – 16:00 GMT.
Join existing and potential WBA Allies to explore how WBA can help Allies to take forward their work. The Alliance is a coalition of the willing, representing diverse voices committed to driving shared goals and priorities around corporate sustainability, transparency, and accountability on the SDGs
Podcast: Great Fund Insights: Measuring ESG in real asset funds – benchmarking, disclosure and driving better practice
In this podcast, Steve Pringle, Director, EMEA at GRESB speaks with Dominic von Wulffen, Partner – Funds & Asset Management Group, at Allen & Overy, covering topics such as:
- The key elements of measuring ESG performance;
- GRESB’s approach to reporting and benchmarking against the EU’s action plan for sustainable growth and the forthcoming EU regulations; and
- ESG assessments and benchmarking to create change in the “real world”.
What GRESB is reading
+ Australian Sustainable Finance Initiative: Australian Sustainable Finance Roadmap: A plan for aligning Australia’s financial system with a sustainable, resilient and prosperous future for all Australians.
+ SYSTEMIQ and The Club of Rome with forward by the President of the Commission: A System Change Compass – implementing the European Green Deal in a time of recovery.