Urban Land Institute highlights social value of ESG in new report

The Urban Land Institute (ULI) has launched a new report, highlighting the social value in real estate.

Titled Zooming in on the “S” in ESG, the report points out that although business leaders and investors acknowledge their role in meeting sustainable development challenges, so far, most attention has been focused on environmental issues and the risks and opportunities associated with mitigating climate change rather than focusing on social factors.

According to global surveys, there is a growing interest in the social dimensions of sustainable development. Alongside this interest has come the rise of impact investing; that is, investing with the intention of contributing to tackling social or environmental challenges, while generating a financial return. However, there is no common approach to describing and measuring social value in the real estate industry.

The report identifies six key barriers based on a survey of and interviews with senior r