Sustainable finance quest spurs global alliance

Sustainable finance quest spurs global alliance

Tuesday, March 5, 2024

Green building proponents in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States are joining forces to produce and promote guidance on sustainable finance options for real estate. The Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA), the U.K.’s Building Research Establishment (BRE) and the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) are aiming to release their first joint publication this June in sync with London Climate Action Week.

The new alliance responds to growing concerns the world’s nations are falling short of their targets for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and looks to marry the financial sector’s rising ESG obligations with demands to retrofit and reorient the built environment. In doing so, the green building organizations also plan to highlight how their marquee certification systems — Green Star, BREEAM and LEED — help to drive and validate compliance with the various reporting requirements related to climate risk that are now emerging globally.

The alliance’s initial publication will build on the green finance guide the GBCA published last year. Gillian Charlesworth, BRE’s chief executive officer, notes international cooperation of green building organizations sets the tone for forging stronger ties between the real estate and financial sectors and prompting more issuance and uptake of green bonds and loans.

“The green building community has proven that buildings can accelerate global decarbonization. Increasing the flow of capital to buildings and portfolios delivering these outcomes is essential to expanding the scale and impact of this work,” says Peter Templeton, the USGBC’s chief executive officer.

“As we move through a global sustainable finance revolution, together, we have the potential to unlock significant benefits for buildings, the environment and for people,” concurs Davina Rooney, chief executive officer of GBCA.

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