The climate crisis remains one of the most urgent social, environmental and economic challenges we face. It is by now well-known that the built environment accounts for approximately 39 percent of global emissions, as reported by the International Energy Agency in 2022, with real estate also responsible for 30 percent of global energy consumption.

The 1.5-degree Paris Agreement is clear on where we need to get to by 2050, yet society as a whole is making slow progress on addressing the environmental challenge. Few can be (and are) in doubt that this is an issue that needs to be addressed urgently, and real estate has an important role to play in accelerating progress, through the decarbonisation of portfolios, and in adopting energy-efficiency measures.

Indeed, there seems to be substantial momentum in the industry’s transition towards net zero. According to research from the Urban Land Institute’s C Change programme, 89 percent of real estate investors and manager