Australian property leading the way for sustainability

Australian property companies have recorded a continuous 10-year run at the top of the global GRESB real estate assessment ranking. The ranking assesses and benchmarks the environmental, social and governance (ESG) and other related performance of real assets, providing standardised and validated data to the capital markets.

Participation in the 2020 assessment grew by 22 per cent to cover 1,229 portfolios (2019: 1,005) worth more than USD$4.8 trillion AUM (assets under management).

In 2020 the average score for Oceania was 77. Although this was down on the 2019 score of 80.9, GRESB has noted that changes in this year’s reporting structure and scoring weights make it difficult to draw detailed comparisons with previous years.

Under the new arrangements, the average GRESB Score fell to 70 (2019: 72). Asian real estate came in second with 72, followed by Europe at 69.5, slightly ahead of the Americas at 69.

Green Building Council Australia (GBCA) CEO Davina Rooney says Australia continued to set the benchmark internationally for ESG outcomes in real estate and development.

“Even in this most challenging of years, our region has continued to outperform every other part of the world,” Rooney says.

“Most importantly, this year’s GRESB results reveal a 3 per cent drop in global GHG emissions, demonstrating the power of our sector to make a material contribution to mitigating the impacts of climate change.”

Rooney notes that a transparent, robust and clear global sustainability benchmark that can be simply communicated is an important tool for real estate companies, and investors, in transitioning to a more sustainable future.

A raft of changes were made to the assessment process in 2020 to improve the quality of the benchmark, and further refinements are planned for 2021. As Chair of the Australia Benchmark Committee, GBCA’s Head of Market Transformation Jorge Chapa will oversee the development and maintenance of the standards.

Roxana Isaiu, Director Real Estate at GRESB, says: “While we still have many challenges to overcome on our way to a more sustainable future, it’s inspiring to see this collective commitment to ESG transparency and collaboration from across the global real estate industry.”

GRESB’s global leaders for Australia are:

2020 GRESB Real Estate Standing Investments Sector Leaders

Overall Global Sector Leaders (achieved highest score for its sector and region)

• Office – Private: Lendlease International Towers Sydney Trust, Lendlease

Global Sector Leaders (achieved highest score for the combination of nature of ownership and sector)

• Office – Listed: Dexus Office Trust, Dexus
• Industrial – Listed: Frasers Logistics & Industrial Trust, Frasers Logistics & Industrial Asset Management Pte. Ltd.
• Diversified – Office/Industrial: Private: Frasers Property Australia Pty Ltd – Investment Properties, Frasers Property Australia Pty Ltd.

2020 GRESB Real Estate Development Sector Leaders

Overall Global Sector Leaders (achieved highest score for its sector and region)

Office – Private: Australian Prime Property Fund Commercial, Lendlease

Retail – Private: Australian Prime Property Fund Retail, Lendlease

Diversified – Office/Residential – Private: Cbus Property, Cbus Property

Industrial – Private: Charter Hall Prime Industrial Fund (CPIF), Charter Hall

Residential – Private: Frasers Property Australia Pty Ltd – Investment Properties, Frasers Property Australia Pty Ltd

Diversified – Office/Industrial – Private: Goodman Australia Industrial Partnership (GAIP), Goodman Group

Healthcare – Private: Healthcare Wholesale Property Fund, Dexus

Diversified – Office/Retail – Private: ISPT Core Fund, ISPT Pty Ltd

Residential – Private: Lendlease Retirement Living Trust, Lendlease

Global Sector Leaders (achieved highest score for the combination of nature of ownership and sector)

Retail – Listed: Scentre Group, Scentre Group