WASHINGTON (April 17, 2023) – A ground-breaking global study led by a partnership of the Urban Land Institute (ULI), the European Association for Investors in Non-Listed Real Estate Vehicles (INREV), and the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), and carried out by PwC has mapped out the evolving landscape for global ESG regulations and reporting standards relevant for real estate.

With the support of a range of experts from leading real estate fund managers and investors, Mapping ESG: A Landscape Review of Certifications, Reporting Frameworks and Practices provides the industry with a practical guide on how to navigate the myriad of ESG regulations, standards, and certifications. Following an extensive mapping exercise and numerous interviews with the experts, this study examines the purpose of the different ESG requirements and the different intended users of the information. It explores how the requirements overlap and where there may be an opportunity to condense the ESG reporting burden.

The report also flags new challenges in regulatory innovations that are not harmonized and coordinated. Those innovations affect the entire life cycle of real estate and all sub-sectors of the industry. This lack of harmonization poses a major challenge in identifying what to report, and which standards to align to in this reporting.

“ESG standards are evolving rapidly, and it is important for real estate to understand what global investors, tenants, and regulators are expecting from ESG reporting today, and what they will require in the future. This report is an exciting new resource that enables individual organizations to determine the ESG framework that best fits their unique circumstances,” said Billy Grayson, Executive Vice President of Centers & Initiatives at ULI.

“In Europe, ESG reporting has already moved from voluntary standards to regulatory requirements,” said INREV CEO, Lonneke Löwik. “Those requirements unfortunately are still evolving, both on the continent as well as in the UK. At the same time we are lacking globally aligned standards and data. It’s all about data now – measurement and management – and real estate organisations increasingly find themselves getting to grips with data collection, data sharing and data consolidation.”

“No single reporting standard, framework or certificate can cover all the wide-ranging regulatory and stakeholder requirements when it comes to ESG in real estate,” said PRI Real Estate Specialist, Hani Legris. “Real estate investors face a dizzying array of options and obligations. Whilst the ‘right’ choices will depend on the organisation’s ESG strategy and the jurisdictions they operate in, this report provides essential information to inform the process and is supplemented with case studies, which really helps to bring these topics to life.”

To help navigate the selection of different regulations and standards, based on regulatory requirements and a company’s corporate and ESG strategy, the report provides a number of case studies as well as a set of self-assessment questions to produce greater awareness of the core issues and areas that are anchored in the company’s ESG strategy.

Finally, the study outlines emerging best practices in this area such as the disclosure requirements of both the EU Taxonomy and SFDR, which require a shift to measurable, standardized, and comparable data disclosures, especially for investors.

The 14 standards mapped by the report, including ten with metrics specific to real estate, cover the EU, UK, USA, Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and Australia:

• Core corporate ESG standards: SASB (Sustainability Accounting Standards Board), IFRS S1/S2, CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive), GRI (Global Reporting Initiative)
• Thematic reporting standards: TCFD (Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures), CDP (formerly Carbon Disclosure Project), CDSB (Climate Disclosure Standards Board), CBI (Climate Bonds Initiative)
• Sustainability regulations: EU Taxonomy, SFDR (Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation)
• Industry-driven reporting standards: INREV (European Association for Investors in Non-Listed Real Estate Vehicles), EPRA (European Public Real Estate Association), GRESB (Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark)
• Principle-based commitments: PRI (Principles for Responsible Investment)

The Mapping ESG report is available on ULI’s Knowledge Finder platform and on the INREV website at inrev.org/standards/ESG.

For more information, email [email protected].

About the Urban Land Institute

The Urban Land Institute is a non-profit education and research institute supported by its members. Its mission is to shape the future of the built environment for transformative impact in communities worldwide. Established in 1936, the institute has over 46,000 members worldwide representing all aspects of land use and development disciplines. For more information on ULI, please visit uli.org, or follow us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

About INREV

INREV, the European Association for Investors in Non-Listed Real Estate Vehicles, was launched in May 2003 as a forum for institutional investors and other participants in the growing non-listed real estate vehicles sector. The association represents and reflects an industry with a total value of €2.8 trillion and INREV members deliver €385 billion of stimulus to the real economy of Europe. INREV has 497 members which include 127 of the largest institutional investors as well as 40 of the 50 largest real estate fund managers, plus banks and advisors across Europe and elsewhere. The non-profit association is focused on increasing the transparency and accessibility of non-listed vehicles, promoting professionalism and best practice, and sharing knowledge. It is based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

About PRI

The Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) is the world’s leading proponent of responsible investment. Supported by the United Nations, it works to understand the investment implications of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors and to support its international network of investor signatories in incorporating these factors into their investment and ownership decisions. The PRI acts in the long-term interests of its signatories, of the financial markets and economies in which they operate and ultimately of the environment and society as a whole. Launched in New York in 2006, the PRI has grown to more than 5,000 signatories, managing over US$121 trillion. For more information visit www.unpri.org.