The real estate investment sector continues to recalibrate as environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations become embedded in mainstream investment processes. ESG is now routinely linked to risk management, regulatory compliance and asset resilience, even as public and political debate increasingly questions its cost, complexity and administrative burden.
It is against this backdrop that ‘Real Estate Investment and ESG. A guide and toolkit for practitioners across the globe’, newly published by Haufe, seeks to provide a practical reference point for market participants. Aimed at investors, asset managers, legal advisers and policymakers, the book focuses on how ESG considerations are applied in real estate investment decisions across jurisdictions, rather than on normative arguments about sustainability.
Edited by Sabine Wieduwilt, a partner in Dentons’ Real Estate practice in Frankfurt, the publication brings together contributions from 30 lawyers, real estate market experts and ESG specialists worldwide, including 13 professionals from Dentons.
Wieduwilt said the book was conceived in response to uneven progress across the real estate sector, with some investors advancing quickly on ESG integration while others continue to struggle, particularly where investments span multiple regulatory regimes. She said the intention was to help investors and developers distinguish between ESG measures that are essential and those that are discretionary, and to provide clear guidance on how to begin implementing ESG in a structured way.
She also pointed to the timing of the publication, noting that recent political backlash against ESG has led some market participants to slow implementation or adopt a lower public profile for sustainability initiatives. In that context, she said the book deliberately brings together contributors from different professions and regions to reflect the diversity of ESG practices globally, spanning Europe, Africa, Asia, the US and Latin America.
“With this book, we want to support market participants to gather ESG content from different perspectives and decide for themselves which content makes sense to implement in their projects,” Wieduwilt said.
Wieduwilt said institutional investors need a clear understanding of ESG regulation in the jurisdictions where they invest, particularly in areas such as sustainability reporting, disclosure, supply chains, anti-bribery and anti-money laundering. In Europe, she highlighted the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive as a regulatory development likely to shape investment and asset management decisions in the near term.
Despite the pressures facing ESG, market data suggests investor engagement remains resilient. Research presented ahead of MIPIM shows sustainability remains central to strategy for many respondents, even as terminology and communication evolve.
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