Europe’s listed property industry achieved a record number of top awards for sustainability reporting at the annual conference of the European Public Real Estate Association (EPRA) in London on Wednesday.
'European listed real estate companies have consistently raised their game every year since 2012, when EPRA began rewarding compliance with the Best Practices Recommendations for sustainability reporting,' Dominique Moerenhout, EPRA CEO, said. The recent big jump in the performance of our Swedish and German members is particularly impressive, he added. 'The industry has now reached the point that we’re able to turn our efforts towards improving transparency on corporate ESG metrics, where I’m sure companies will also rise to an equally tough challenge.'
In Sweden, every listed company disclosed data in 2017 whereas only half did in the 2016 report. In Germany the number rose to 41% from 19% last year.
Nine companies went straight to Gold Awards this year from none in 2016, EPRA reported. These include Coima RES, Deutsche EuroShop, Deutsche Wohnen, Dios Fastigheter, Grand City Properties, Grivalia Properties, Mercialys, Vastned Retail and WDP.
In 2017, 68% of EPRA members reported at least one sustainability performance measure, and 46% of these won an Award meaning they reported against at least 12 performance measures. Of the 17 non-EPRA members included in the Awards, 65% reported at least one performance measure.
'EPRA’s engagement with member companies over their sustainability reporting standards, combined with investor and peer pressure, is clearly having a big impact on the transparency of the listed real estate industry,' Olivier Elamine, Chair of the EPRA Sustainability Committee and CEO of Alstria Office REIT, said. 'The listed sector is now unquestionably leading the way in terms of sustainability in the real estate investment universe, and provides not only investors but all its stakeholders with state of the art public disclosures.'
The rapid improvement in transparency for the industry’s sustainability credentials has also allowed EPRA to launch a new reporting initiative focused on social and governance attainments to ensure listed real estate companies deliver in this critical policy area. The leading real estate companies are already seeking to measure their wider impact and contribution to society at an asset and corporate level, so EPRA aims to provide common industry metrics for non-financial disclosure. They include new performance measures covering diversity, employee development, health and safety, community engagement and Board composition, selection and conflicts of interest.
