Real estate investors and collaborating organisations have published a guide to help property investors develop and implement an 鈥渋mpact-based approach鈥� in real estate finance and management.
The guide was produced by the property working group of the UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) alongside the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and other partner organisations. The property working group comprises more than 25 institutional investors and commercial banks, such as Germany鈥檚 Allianz Real Estate, French state-backed lender Caisse des D茅p么ts et Consignations, and M&G Real Estate in the UK.
UNEP FI said the guide, entitled 鈥楶ositive Impact Real Estate Investment Framework鈥�, responded to finance sector interest in 鈥渋nvestment outcomes for productive, equitable, health and resilient economies and societies鈥�.
The framework was aimed at helping institutions identify impact 鈥渁reas of influence鈥� and corresponding investment opportunities, measure ex-ante and ex-post impact, and 鈥渦ltimately re-orient institutional capacities and capital for intentional delivery of outcomes that support the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)鈥�.
It is intended to help guide decisions at any stage of the property investment cycle. A number of 鈥榣eading questions鈥� and recommended actions are identified for each of four investment objectives.
The framework draws on previous work done by UNEP FI that translating the SDGs into meaningful terms for businesses and financing impact assessment.
Tatiana Bosteels, head of responsible property investment at Hermes Investment Management and chair of the UNEP FI Investment Commission, said: 鈥淭he Real Estate Impact Framework is a useful tool for investors to map and select the most relevant actions they can take to support the SDGs suiting their specific investment strategies.鈥�
Bosteels was one of the lead authors of the guide and co-chairs the property working group with Anna Murray, vice president, sustainability, at Bentall Kennedy.
The guide can be found .
