Acting for the climate
The fight against climate change is a global challenge that requires a commitment from government institutions, companies, financial investors and, more generally, the whole of society.
Prelios SGR monitors the greenhouse gas emissions associated with its managed portfolios over time, taking into account the characteristics and composition of the investments involved.
This enables the company to track the evolution of emissions associated with the portfolios and obtain information that can be used to consider climate factors in its investment and management activities.
The data is analysed in relation to the managed portfolios and may be affected by their composition and changes that occurred during the reporting period. Therefore, year-on-year trends in emissions do not necessarily represent a structural reduction in emissions from the underlying assets.
The benefits:
- Reduction in real estate operating costs through energy efficiency improvements
- Enhanced appeal of properties to buyers and tenants
- Greater resilience of buildings to new environmental challenges
- Mitigation of obsolescence risks
- Reduced exposure to climate and environmental risks
Climate Factor Management
Climate change is one of the main risk factors for the real estate sector. In this context, Prelios SGR considers climate-related issues in its operations, taking into account both direct and indirect effects.
The Board of Directors of Prelios SGR has approved guidelines that define the company's approach to monitoring emissions and climate indicators. Specifically, this approach includes:
- monitoring greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions according to Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3 categories; and
- identifying and monitoring seven key performance indicators (Key Environmental Performance Indicators) with regard to real estate management.
GHG emissions considerations
Together with the Prelios Group, Prelios SGR started in 2022 to monitor its direct and indirect GHG emissions (Scope 1, 2, 3), along the entire value chain, expressed in tonnes of CO2 equivalent and calculated on the basis of models in line with reference standards. GHG emissions, according to the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHGP) classification, include:
- Scope 1: direct emissions from sources owned or controlled by the organisation. Including combustion processes, refrigerant gas leaks, transport by means owned by the organisation;
- Scope 2: these are the indirect emissions from the production of electricity, heat or steam imported and consumed by the organisation;
- Scope 3: these are the other indirect emissions from corporate activities. This category includes emission sources that are not under direct corporate control, but whose emissions are indirectly due to corporate activity.
Possible actions to mitigate GHG emissions
Prelios SGR, in order to contain its GHG emissions, considers several measures, including:
- adoption of an environmental management system;
- awareness-raising among relevant stakeholders in the value chain;
- careful selection of suppliers;
- promotion of energy efficiency of buildings under management;
- progressive electrification of the company car fleet;
- corporate welfare for sustainable employee travel;
Environmental KPIs
With regard to the real estate assets it manages, Prelios SGR’s strategic objective is to reduce the carbon footprint of its portfolio.
Prelios SGR’s efforts are guided by the development of an operational roadmap based on three key areas:
- carbon efficiency: analysis of carbon emissions and promotion of solutions for energy efficiency and the reduction of pollution sources and exposure to fossil fuels;
- biodiversity: protection of biodiversity for green spaces, natural light, water, flora and fauna;
- circular economy: waste minimisation, material and component selection and waste management, with the aim of promoting the circular economy.
These guidelines are broken down into seven key performance indicators, which are monitored at least once a year by the Asset & Development Management department and coordinated by the Fund Management department. The Head of Sustainability compiles the results of this monitoring and brings them to the attention of the Sustainable Finance Committee.
Prelios SGR believes that, alongside traditional elements such as location, tenant, size, and building quality, sustainability and ESG factors are key drivers of value creation and real estate performance — and that their importance is set to grow over time. For this reason, Prelios SGR maintains an ongoing collaborative dialogue with its investors to identify the best solutions to implement at the level of each individual managed portfolio.