Charter Hall Group’s Charter Hall Prime Office Fund (CPOF) has ranked as a Global Sector Leader in the 2022 Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB) for leadership in integrating environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations.
This year, 24 Charter Hall funds participated in the GRESB Assessment with 17 of these achieving scores within the top 20% of the GRESB universe.
Charter Hall’s unlisted Retail funds are also credited as Regional Sector Leaders for Oceania.
Established in 2009, GRESB is today used by more than 170 institutional investors and is considered to be the largest and leading assessment of the sustainability performance of real estate assets and portfolios.
In 2022, more than 1,820 listed and unlisted portfolios participated in the assessment, representing USD$6.9 trillion in gross asset value under management across 74 countries.
Charter Hall’s performance in ESG benchmarks, including GRESB, is underpinned by its long-term commitment to integrating ESG into its business.
This reflects its group-wide approach to actively partnering with customers to drive mutual success, including environmental and social outcomes, alongside financial.
Charter Hall Managing Director & Group CEO David Harrison said: “We are pleased to see our funds perform as global and regional sector leaders with 17 of our funds and partnerships in the top quintile of the GRESB assessment in 2022, which is exceptional considering the benchmarks’ continued growth”.
“We have accelerated our commitment to net zero carbon for Scope 1 and 2 emissions from 2030 to 2025.
“We believe our approach to sustainability will continue to attract and retain the best tenant and investor customers, while making a valuable contribution to improving our communities and the planet.
“Combined, our efforts support a lower cost of operation as well as long-term risk adjusted returns for investors across our portfolios,” he said.
This year’s performance in GRESB is further evidence of Charter Hall’s continued approach to integrating ESG into asset creation and operation, through securing onsite and offsite renewables, transitioning buildings away from fossil fuel and reducing its carbon footprint.
Charter Hall Office CEO, Carmel Hourigan, said “At Charter Hall, we take pride in understanding what our customers need and value to deliver best-in-class, sustainable and future-ready assets.
“Our Office portfolio offers leading green credentials, including designing carbon-ready developments with all electric plant and equipment, demonstrating our commitment to provide stabilised, sustainable assets and low carbon outcomes,” she said.
Charter Hall Retail CEO, Ben Ellis, added “ We are thrilled to see our listed and unlisted Retail funds increase performance in GRESB for the period.
“We have partnered with customers to install more than 22.5MW of onsite solar and 6.5MW of operating battery capacity in the portfolio – lowering our operating cost and supporting our goal to achieve net zero by 2025.”
