EDITOR’S COMMENT Bringing an industry together to gossip, put the world to right, do deals and perhaps share a glass or two of rosé has never been that difficult. Bringing a £1.6tn commercial real estate sector together to unite on how it should behave has never been easy.
But this week the industry has united on seven ESG principles that set out how it should behave around the climate, its social responsibility, the way it treats and values people, how it handles data and its need to be both transparent and accountable.
The principles, as LGIM Real Assets boss and chair of the Property Industry Alliance Bill Hughes says, are crucial for the sector if it wants to be sustainable over the long term. They are a set of principles that urge collective responsibility from the sector to drive real change. They are a set of principles that say profit is fine, but that people, the planet, the communities that real estate touches have to have just as much value as the pound or dollar signs.
“People need to feel responsible for what they do in our sector,” Hughes told me. “We are guardians of the sector and need to be doing the right thing and be held accountable for it. You have to make sure you uphold proper behaviour in all that you do and are an ambassador for the industry.”
It is a strong comment. But you’ll know by now, one that I absolutely agree with. This industry has to understand how integrated it is in the fabric of society. It has to understand what a huge employer it is. It has to understand how important it is. And how that brings with it huge responsibility.
Responsibility over the places it builds, operates and occupies, responsibility to deliver those spaces for the people and responsibility over their own workforce.
Even five years ago, the PIA – a collection of all of the industry’s main bodies – would have probably been laughed out of town for suggesting a universal agreement on ESG principles. Today, it has been led to establish them because the conversation has changed. Real estate has got itself a soul, a conscience, it feels human now and if it embraces the best practice set out by the PIA, may even get itself a half decent reputation.
Five years ago – even a couple of years ago – I wonder if the industry would have (almost) universally said that it valued the health and wellbeing of its people over and above the chance to make a bit more money. But this week that is exactly what the industry did.
Whether the decision to pull out of MIPIM in Cannes by a number of major real estate firms this week as a result of coronavirus is overly cautious is hard to say, but the very fact that every statement that came out this week used a line saying that the welfare of staff was an “absolute priority” and that the health and safety of employees and clients was of “utmost importance”, is a clear signal of how the sector is changing. How the sector is putting people right up the top of its priorities, alongside profit.
You’ll have read me on these pages being passionate about what the real estate sector should be setting as its priorities, what it should be doing for its people and the planet. At EG, we’re certainly practising what we preach around people with our future leaders and mental health projects. But from next week we will be doing the same around the planet.
Next week’s issue will be Economist-like in size and will no longer come in a plastic bag (only 12 times a year when you get extra magazines with your EG). The move will see us save more than 20,000 tonnes of paper. It is absolutely the right thing for us to be doing. We must do our bit too. There will be more we can do, obviously, and like you, we will be continually working on doing more and being better.
A fresh new size has also enabled a fresh new look. We love it. We hope you do. Let us know.
To send feedback, e-mail samantha.mcclary@egi.co.uk or tweet @samanthamcclary or @estatesgazette
