CEFC works with GRESB to support sustainability best practices in the Australian real estate and infrastructure sectors

GRESB media release

August 5, 2019

GRESB is pleased to announce that the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) has joined GRESB as an Investor Member and an Industry Partner. The collaboration intends to enhance environmental, social and governance (ESG) management practices in the real asset sector.

“We are delighted to welcome CEFC to GRESB,” says Ruben Langbroek, Head of Asia Pacific at GRESB. “For both real asset owners and managers, there are clear opportunities in clean energy and energy efficiency investments, as well as in the deployment of low-emission technologies for buildings and infrastructure projects. By jointly sharing national and international best practices, we aim to inform market participants how they can improve their ESG performance. Importantly, the CEFC, through its finance to accelerate the uptake of clean energy technologies, is in a unique position to support best practice behaviour.”

GRESB provides ESG benchmarks for real estate and infrastructure portfolios and assets worldwide. In Australia, GRESB is considered the leading framework for assessing ESG performance of real estate companies, with all major organizations participating in the annual benchmark. Australia’s largest superannuation funds use GRESB data and analytical tools to inform their investment decision-making process and to pro-actively engage with their managers.

CEFC CEO Ian Learmonth said: “The CEFC is focused on accelerating Australia’s sustainable transition to net zero emissions. We have identified the potential for our investments in the property and infrastructure sectors to deliver projects that integrate energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies to deliver best-in-class performance. These projects are demonstrating to the broader market how significant emissions reductions can be achieved.  We are looking forward to working with GRESB to share insights and to extend our work in emissions reduction across Australia’s property and infrastructure sectors.”

By formalising its working relationship with GRESB, the CEFC sees opportunities to:

• Inform investors of key trends in renewable energy, energy efficiency and low emission opportunities to drive ESG performance and net zero carbon trajectories
• Share key learnings from CEFC transactions within Australia and internationally
• Work with GRESB on developing strategies and tools that will assist members in carbon emissions reduction

About GRESB

Mission-driven and investor-led, GRESB is the environmental, social and governance (ESG) benchmark for real assets. We work in collaboration with the industry to provide standardized and validated ESG data to the capital markets. The 2019 real estate benchmark covers more than 1,000 property companies, real estate investment trusts (REITs), funds, and developers. Our coverage for infrastructure includes 500 infrastructure funds and assets. Combined, GRESB represents over USD 4 trillion in real asset value. More than 100 institutional investors, with over USD 22 trillion AUM, use GRESB data to monitor their investments, engage with their managers, and make decisions that lead to a more sustainable real asset industry.