Responsible Investment & ESG
Following the Paris Accord in 2015 governments in most countries have stepped up their strategies to achieve compliance within the specified time-frames under the Agenda for Sustainable Development. The direction of travel established by the Paris Accord has now been starkly accelerated by the declarations issued at the Climate Change Conference of the Parties , or COP 26, concluded in Glasgow autumn 2021.
Increasingly it will no longer be possible to pay lip-service to issues of global warming, emissions and the rest of the ESG debate. So called ‘greenwashing’ will no longer suffice, placing increased responsibility on investment managers. Müller International Asset Management (MÜAM) is well aware of the significance of this. ESG issues now exert a strong influence on tenants, companies and their credentials towards their staff as well as on the detailed property and asset management of individual assets.
The experience of the last year or two during the Covid-19 pandemic has similarly heightened awareness of health issues and is exerting a strong influence on how buildings will be used. The Built Environment is estimated to be responsible for 40% of all emissions so increasingly investment in property will need to conform to the new standards meaning investment will be required to demonstrate recognition of goals in order to sustain a lasting return for investors.
Government regulations and company awareness of evolving health aspects
mean investors also need to factor these aspects into their investment criteria. MÜAM is therefore aware of its responsibility to investors, to deliver against these increasingly relevant criteria.
In an emerging hybrid working environment tenant and individual employee awareness of their working conditions is expected to play an important role. All areas of corporate activity are increasingly seeking to use and adopt ESG compliant methods, suppliers and buildings in order to burnish their own credentials. As a result it is of corresponding importance that ESG considerations are woven into all decisions relating to the real estate investment process and its on-going asset and property management.
