GRESB Quarterly, Americas | Measurabl on taking politics out of ESG; GRESB Foundation Town Hall event & Regional Insights events in the Americas

What an incredible few months it has been for all of us! We are excited to share with you many updates in this GRESB Americas Q4 2023 Newsletter.

Since our Q3 update, GRESB has:

• Issued 2023 results for a record setting 2,084 real estate funds, managing 170,000+ assets globally as well as over 850 Infrastructure funds and assets!
• Released 2024 Standard changes (earlier than ever before)
• Collaborated on and published the first ever GRESB Foundation Roadmap
• Planned over 20 in-person GRESB Regional Insights events with our valued Partners

During this same time, our members have:

• Carefully consumed their customized GRESB Benchmark Reports
• Downloaded the freshest data using our data tools
• Shared successes and progress both internally and externally (Tip: search LinkedIn posts for “GRESB”!)
• Identified areas for continued improvement across their organizations
• Begun plans for the 2024 assessment cycle

We continue to be deeply thankful for the commitment and hard work put forth by the entire GRESB Americas community. This time of year, we celebrate the progress in everyone’s sustainability journey. It doesn’t matter if you are a first-time or a long-time submitter to GRESB. Progress is progress. It is a very proud moment for us to see that progress in the data each year.

Throughout the remainder of 2023, we stand ready to assist you with the recent GRESB Assessment data and any additional reporting needs. Simultaneously, we are hard at work preparing for what promises to be an amazing 2024.

Congratulations to everyone for a successful 2023. Now, let’s keep the progress going into 2024!

Best,
Tom Idzal
Head of Americas

The issue of climate change has long been a hot button topic across both sides of the political divide in the United States. Until fairly recently however, ESG had broadly managed to stay out of the same firing line. But over the past year, for businesses themselves, the politicization of ESG has created something of a bind.

Firms find themselves caught between seeking to comply with investor demands and navigating a growing patchwork of statutes that seek to limit the use of ESG factors in business decisions. With new regulations frequently introduced mandating ESG targets or guarding against mandates, it’s a complex landscape.

Read Measurabl’s insights into “Taking politics out of ESG” to learn more.

The GRESB Foundation recently published its forward-looking 2024 Roadmap, which reflects upon future priorities for the Standards. In addition to describing the mission and structure of the Foundation, the Roadmap describes key drivers for Standard development and areas of work prioritized for 2023-2024, along with issues under consideration for 2025 and beyond.

View the GRESB Foundation 2024 Roadmap.

2024 Standards changes

The GRESB Foundation just released the changes to the 2024 Real Estate and Infrastructure Standards.

The changes for 2024 broadly cover residential real estate, energy consumption and performance, GHG performance, building certifications, TCFD alignment, physical climate risk and transition risk, and a solution for infrastructure under development. See full lists of changes below:

• GRESB Real Estate Standard – List of Changes
• GRESB Infrastructure Fund Standard – List of Changes
• GRESB Infrastructure Asset Standard – List of Changes

The new GRESB Infrastructure Development Asset Standard will launch in April 2024. Learn more here.

Please see the GRESB website for more information about the changes to the Standards.

GRESB Foundation Town Hall events

Join us online on November 29 for a presentation and live Q&A on the recently released 2024 GRESB Foundation Roadmap and the 2024 Standards changes. On the registration page, you can leave your questions, which our team will answer during the live Q&A.

Learn more and register here.

Following the Global Results Event, you can join GRESB and our co-hosting partners in person at one of the upcoming GRESB Regional Insights events in the Americas region:

• GRESB Regional Insights: New York – Real estate with Longevity Partners | November 14, 2023
• GRESB Regional Insights: Newport Beach – Real estate with Conservice ESG | November 29, 2023

The Pension Real Estate Association (PREA), a non-profit trade association for the global institutional real estate investment industry, has named APG Asset Management the winner of the prestigious PREA Institutional Investor ESG Award 2023.

APG, one of the world’s largest pension investors, played a pivotal role in the founding of GRESB. We would like to congratulate APG for their continued and outstanding commitment to sustainability, and for this well-deserved award.

Read more about APG and the award.

Please take a moment to participate in our 2023 GRESB Participant Survey. Your insights and feedback are crucial in helping us enhance our services and drive sustainability improvements across the industry.

• Participant survey for real estate and infrastructure funds.
• Participant survey for infrastructure assets.

RELPI Cleveland Investors Experience | RELPI
November 14, 2023 | Cleveland, OH

PERE America Forum 2023: New York | PEI
November 15-16, 2023 | New York, NY

PEI: Infrastructure Investor Network: America Forum | PEI
November 29-30, 2023 | New York, NY

RELPI Dallas Investors Experience | RELPI
December 6, 2023 | Dallas, TX

PEI Responsible Investor USA 2023 | PEI
December 6-7, 2023 | New York, NY

2024 Visions, Insights & Perspectives (VIP) Americas | IREI
January 22-23, 2024 | Carlsbad, CA

PEI Responsible Investment Forum 2024 – New York | PEI
February 20-24, 2024 | New York, NY

Decarb DC 2024 | Companies for Net Zero
February 29, 2024 | Tysons, VA

See full event calendar.

Thanks to our Global Partner Measurabl for sponsoring and contributing to this newsletter.

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