Environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors are part of our decision-making at both organization and product level. In order to meet the requirements of the Paris Agreement and make a valuable contribution to achieving the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals), we therefore pursue selected ESG goals at both levels.
Organization
As an organization, we embrace our responsibility towards the environment and society while working to meet our clients’ needs and fiduciary duties. To achieve this, we have defined the following ESG objectives:
- Regular ESG workshops and training to enhance employee commitment to ESG goals (e.g., integrating ESG factors into annual employee performance objectives)
- Providing our employees with modern and clean workplaces while promoting diversity and equal opportunities (HR policy, remote work, flexibility, COVID hygiene concept, promoting sports activities)
- Green energy procurement
- ESG European competition team within the Catella
- Reducing our environmental impact through responsible travel (e.g., avoiding flights, compensating CO2 emissions from flights, incentivizing train travel, increasing video conferences)
- Supporting environmental projects and local charities
- Memberships and partnerships with institutions promoting sustainability (e.g., UNPRI, ULI).
- Regular review and implementation of policies on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) topics
Real Estate Funds
We are dedicated to achieving financial objectives while delivering leading ESG standards at fund and asset levels. Effective management of environmental impacts and risks is central to our fiduciary duties, particularly in alignment with the Paris Agreement. To this end, we implement the following measures at the portfolio level:
- Resilience falls under the affordability strategy, contributing to the social aspect
- Development of a tenant engagement program to positively impact local communities
- Integration of measures to improve ESG performance into CAPEX plans and through the introduction of green lease agreements (e.g., measures to reduce water consumption, heating demand, and CO2 emissions)
- Development of ecological KPIs to improve measurability in our real estate funds and integration of ESG topics into all our investment decisions
- Regular automated consumption data collection (in collaboration with Deepki & MSCI)
- Assessment of "stranded assets" and measures to mitigate potential risks (CRREM)
- Annual reporting on ESG activities and progress, including participation in industry benchmarks such as ZIA, BVI, INREV, GRESB