The Business Case for ESG – Moving from ‘Why?’ to ‘Why Not?’
The United Nations Secretary-General calls climate change “the most systemic threat to humankind” (New York Times, 2018). The World Economic Forums’ 2018 Global Risks Report (World Economic Forum, 2019), published ahead of the 2019 Davos summit, cites 3 of the top 5 risks both in terms of impact and likelihood as being environmental in nature. Reinsurance broker […]
Read more The Business Case for Environmental, Social & Governance Policies
How much time is spent writing policies and business plans which have the sole intention of detailing business growth, self-protection or increasing our market share? How much time is then spent developing relationships, investing in people or understanding customer needs? They appear to be two diametrically opposed ways of doing business. One is cold and […]
Read more The business case for ESG. Shouldn’t it just be business as usual?
Environmental Social Governance (ESG) refers to “the three central factors in measuring the sustainability and ethical impact of an investment in a company or business”. These factors are becoming increasingly important investment considerations. Since 1970, there have been more than 2000 academic studies seeking to identify if there is a link between ESG and financial performance [1] – this […]
Read more The case for embedding Environmental, Social and Governance into your business
Working at Savills over the last five years has made me more aware than ever of the business case for embedding Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) into the workplace. As standard, this is the set of criteria that the socially conscious use to pick and choose who they are willing to work with and can […]
Read more Crossing the Threshold: Time to make digitalization in real estate and our cities responsible, ethical and sustainable
Knightscope K5 Robotic Security Guard. Image: Shutterstock Digital disruption, proptech, cybersecurity, AI, Alexa, smart buildings, smart cities, driverless cars – these are all hot topics of discussion around real estate today. Digital technologies, which have been emerging for some time, are now integrating with each other, and their take-up is being accelerated by high levels […]
Read more 2 Issues for 2019: social value and biodiversity net gains
The importance of sustainable real assets has become increasingly evident through the positive impact they can have on returns for investors/owners as well as future proofing the value of the investment. Issues such as energy efficiency are often an initial target, in part due to the ease with which improvement can be measured. More recently, […]
Read more Trends & Expectations for 2019 – Siemens Building Technologies
Input from Agustin Garcia del Castillo, Business Development Manager Real Estate and Sustainability Manager for Siemens Building Technologies. At Siemens Building Technologies, we’re raising the bar on sustainability. We are deeply committed to our environment, society at-large, and responsible business practices. We are taking action to reduce climate impacts across our entire value chain and […]
Read more Climate resilience and the search for ‘zero carbon’: Trends and expectations for sustainable real assets in 2019
The challenge of improving the sustainability of real estate portfolios is not new. However, the increasing pressure from investors, certification bodies and other industry drivers is creating a wave of change toward portfolios that can demonstrate increasingly resilient and efficient asset performance. Furthermore, a growing desire for occupants to have real time access to building […]
Read more 2019: the Breakthrough Year for Smart Buildings?
Smart buildings and smart cities have been at the forefront of sustainability discussions for much of the past decade, but they have always felt like a vision of the future. During this time we’ve increased the amount of technology in our buildings, and have now arrived at the time of The Internet of Things where […]
Read more What to expect from China’s real estate industry in 2019
ESG as a global vision has enhanced compliance and reporting standards Sustainability is not rocket science yet the rapid global sustainability demand has encouraged overwhelmingly stringent laws and regulations from governments and investment institutions in 2018. The bell rings again for companies to step up their ESG disclosures in 2019. According to the EY Global […]
Read more 2019: Trends in Sustainable Real Assets
2018 was an exciting year for sustainable real assets, as more assets were required to participate in benchmarking or disclosure. As a result, we shifted from talking about regulatory and compliance obligations and costs to sustainability as a value-add driver of cashflow and asset values. The federal government’s retreat only increased the focus on sustainable […]
Read more The Art of Sustainability Goal Setting
When discussing setting sustainability goals among our team, many clients simply want “the answer.” There are tools that allow you to provide key information and produce a numerical target. You could take that number and run with it. But you shouldn’t. Understand your motivation Setting sustainability goals can and should be more nuanced than that. […]
Read more Performance Targets and Climate Related Risks: KPIs Real Estate Companies Need to Track
There are growing concerns in the sustainability space over physical asset risk identification and mitigation, and transitional risks – not just due to policy and compliance, but reputational risk by not keeping up with the actions of peers. These concerns coupled with investor pressures (see TCFD), give the topic of climate-related financial risk two legs […]
Read more Time to improve your assets
If you attended one of the 2018 GRESB Results events, you probably discovered the three key elements of sustainable assets: efficiency, health & well-being, and resilience. While companies are increasingly addressing the issues of resilience and health and well-being in the built environment, efficiency is one of the most longstanding topics of the sustainable building […]
Read more Lessons Learned: How to Improve in 2019
Last year was the year of resilience. We looked not only at our buildings but also our people and our business as a whole. – Jeannie Renne-Malone, Prologis
Read more The Double Bottom-Line
In September 2014, I spoke on a panel at Harvard Business School a day before the People’s Climate March in New York. My panel broke out into a shouting match that seemed to pit those who care about their personal finances against those who wanted to advance global action against climate change.
Read more Water Rises up on the Boardroom Agenda
“Any Other Business” Energy has long been high on the boardroom agenda for organizations looking to control their budget and comply with changing industry legislation. In contrast, water is often viewed under the item “any other business”. With regulated markets and comparatively low costs, many businesses believe that there are limited opportunities or risks associated […]
Read more 5 Ways for Companies to Address Water Scarcity and Management
Explaining Scarcity “If climate change is the shark, then water is its teeth and it is an issue on which businesses need far greater levels of awareness and understanding” – Paul Dickinson, Chief Executive Officer, Carbon Disclosure Project Water management by business has made an interesting journey over the past century – from unlimited use […]
Read more What is Investment Grade ESG?
Investment Grade ESG. What makes your data “investment worthy”? What practices can you incorporate into your sustainability initiatives to become a leader in the movement? If you’re interested in these questions, and you missed the dynamic conversation with Ragnar Martens, Director IT & Analytics, GRESB and Matt Ellis, CEO, Measurabl, you can still watch below. […]
Read more Would You Risk the Planet’s Fate on a ‘Coin Toss’?
The climate coin toss: Has your business set carbon reduction targets that only have a 50% chance of preventing a catastrophe? The Science-Based Targets Initiative is helping companies to set carbon targets to achieve the Paris Agreement’s ‘2ºC’ goal, but their approach gives just a 50% chance of success. Can we risk the fate of […]
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