Sustainability costs rise as governments refine responses

Real estate investors and the sector’s professionals are acknowledging the importance of tackling climate change and there is an increased interest in impact investing which has been accelerated by both stakeholder pressure and government intervention. Despite the potential distraction of Covid 19, around 300 global companies have made net zero pledges.

PWC’s sustainability and climate change manager Paul Bosworth said a number of governments are introducing mandatory climate risk disclosures and he is working with clients to refresh sustainability strategies in response to the policy changes.

Talking to Real Asset Insight’s Richard Betts he said that the pace of change has been very fast. “But there are also still quite a lot of challenges around definition, not only in terms of net zero but also things like impact investing.”

Furthermore, he warned that many real estate companies and funds will probably need to revisit their ESG strategies and as governments’ climate change policies become tougher, the cost of compliance is likely to rise.

“That kind of ratcheting up around sustainability-related or environmental performance regulations is just going to increase as these different governments have to meet their national targets around climate change.”

Click on the video above to watch the full interview or listen to the podcast below.