ESG Reporting Frameworks

Sustainable Real Assets – our vision is a real asset investment industry that plays a critical role in creating a sustainable world – one where society can meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs.

​Our Mission

The transition to sustainable real assets is one of the most fundamental challenges we face. It can only be met with reliable ESG information, standardized global benchmarks and collective action from all our stakeholders as we work towards a more sustainable future.

Our mission is to assess and benchmark the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) and other related performance of real assets, providing standardised and validated data to the capital markets.

GRESB Assessments are guided by what investors and the industry consider to be material issues in the sustainability performance of real asset investments, and are aligned with international reporting frameworks, such as GRI, PRI, SASB, DJSI, TCFD recommendations, the Paris Climate Agreement, UN SDGs, region and country specific disclosure guidelines and regulations.

Each year reporting to the GRESB Assessments generates the following ESG benchmarks for the industry:

• Real Estate Benchmark

• Real Estate Development Benchmark

• Infrastructure Fund Benchmark

• Infrastructure Asset Benchmark

Assessment participants receive comparative business intelligence on where they stand against their peers, insight into the actions they can take to improve their ESG performance and a communication platform to engage with investors.

​Investors use the ESG data and GRESB’s analytical tools to monitor their investments, engage with their managers, and make decisions that lead to a more sustainable and resilient real asset industry.

GRI (Global Reporting Initiative) is the independent, international organization that helps businesses and other organizations take responsibility for their impacts, by providing them with the global common language to communicate those impacts. We provide the world’s most widely used standards for sustainability reporting – the GRI Standards.

The GRI secretariat is headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and we have a network of seven regional hubs ensuring we can support organizations and stakeholders worldwide. 

Catalyst for a sustainable world

We work with businesses, investors, policymakers, civil society, labor organizations and other experts to develop the GRI Standards and promote their use by organizations around the world.​

With thousands of reporters in more than 100 countries, the Standards are advancing the practice of sustainability reporting, and enabling organizations and their stakeholders to take action and make better decisions that create economic, environmental and social benefits for everyone.​

Get started with reporting

Sustainability reporting is an organization’s practice of publishing information on its economic, environmental, and social impacts.  As provider of the world’s most widely used framework for sustainability reporting, GRI has a wide range of guidance, information and support, to help companies get started. ​

Here we bring together a handy selection of sources and resources to enable you use the GRI Standards to better understand and communicate your sustainability impacts, leading to effective reporting on how your organization contributes to sustainable development.

CDP is a not-for-profit charity that runs the global disclosure system for investors, companies, cities, states and regions to manage their environmental impacts. Over the past 20 years we have created a system that has resulted in unparalleled engagement on environmental issues worldwide.

Founded in 2000, CDP was the first platform to link environmental integrity and fiduciary duty. Now with the world’s largest, most comprehensive dataset on environmental action, the insights that CDP holds empowers investors, companies, cities, and national and regional governments to make the right choices today to build a thriving economy that works for people and planet in the long term.

CDP runs the global environmental disclosure system. Each year CDP supports thousands of companies, cities, states and regions to measure and manage their risks and opportunities on climate change, water security and deforestation. We do so at the request of their investors, purchasers and city stakeholders.

Why disclose as a company

As the world takes steps towards building a climate safe, deforestation free, water secure future, disclosure provides the bedrock for ambitious action. As the richest and most comprehensive dataset, CDP’s data both fuels and tracks global progress towards building a truly sustainable economy for people and planet.​

By reporting through CDP, you can gain competitive advantage. Disclosure helps you get ahead of regulatory and policy changes, identify and tackle growing risks, and find new opportunities for action that your investors and customers worldwide are demanding. CDP’s climate questionnaires are fully aligned with the TCFD recommendations.

​Why your city should disclose

Disclosing environmental data through CDP Cities has a huge number of advantages, from improved engagement to centralizing data and tracking progress. CDP provides cities with all publicly available data, evaluates your response, benchmarks your performance against peers and finds areas of opportunity for your city.

​States and regions

CDP provides a global platform for states and regions to measure, manage and disclose their environmental impacts. Over 130 state and regional governments disclose to CDP from 32 countries, representing over 672 million people, 21% of the global economy and over 5 GtCO2e. 

Certified B Corporations are businesses that meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose. B Corps are accelerating a global culture shift to redefine success in business and build a more inclusive and sustainable economy.

Society’s most challenging problems cannot be solved by government and nonprofits alone. The B Corp community works toward reduced inequality, lower levels of poverty, a healthier environment, stronger communities, and the creation of more high quality jobs with dignity and purpose. By harnessing the power of business, B Corps use profits and growth as a means to a greater end: positive impact for their employees, communities, and the environment.

B Corps form a community of leaders and drive a global movement of people using business as a force for good. The values and aspirations of the B Corp community are embedded in the B Corp Declaration of Interdependence.

B Corp Certification

B Corp Certification doesn’t just evaluate a product or service; it assesses the overall positive impact of the company that stands behind it. And increasingly that’s what people care most about.

​Certified B Corporations achieve a minimum verified score on the B Impact Assessment—a rigorous assessment of a company’s impact on its workers, customers, community, and environment—and make their B Impact Report transparent on bcorporation.net. Certified B Corporations also amend their legal governing documents to require their board of directors to balance profit and purpose.

​The combination of third-party validation, public transparency, and legal accountability help Certified B Corps build trust and value. B Corp Certification is administered by the non-profit B Lab.