EPRA Awards for excellence in sustainability reporting increase by more than a quarter in 2020
The European Public Real Estate Association (EPRA) will award 90 listed property companies in Europe awards for excellence reporting against the EPRA Sustainability Best Practice Recommendations (sBPRs) at the EPRA Annual Conference 2020 on September 8th, which will be hosted digitally by the association.
2020 has seen an increase in the number of European listed property companies presented with an award of more than quarter (25%) since last year. The widespread uptake in sustainability reporting is an indication of the real estate industry’s growing commitment to helping investors and stakeholders understand its role in contributing to and tackling societal and climate change challenges.
This year saw a best-ever 90 companies win awards for sustainability reporting compared with 70 in 2019. Of those who have received an award, 62 were awarded gold, 16 silver and 12 bronze. 22 members won an award for the first time this year and 44% of members to win an award had a market capitalization under EUR1 billion: a clear signal that correlation between reporting and market size has been vanishing over the years, and the sector is moving together towards greater transparency.
Dominique Moerenhout, EPRA CEO, said: “Obviously, the industry and global economy have experienced major challenges in the past 12 months, but the increase in the number of businesses conducting sustainability reporting, and doing it well, gives us at EPRA hope that the current COVID-19 crisis will only elevate the importance of sustainability commitments in this industry.”
“Today marks a fantastic effort by many of our members for their sustainability practices over the past year, and they deserve tremendous credit. Not only have we seen a record for Gold Awards, but five companies that have previously never won an award for sustainability reporting are taking home gold. This year truly showcases that ESG principles have become strategic for every business and they will continue to lead the way our industry operates going forward.”
Matthew Tippett, National Director JLL said: “2020 marks our ninth year supporting EPRA with the sBPR Awards. In what has been an unprecedented year for many reasons, we are thrilled to announce that more than half of EPRA’s membership received an award for their sustainability reporting, a significant achievement reflecting the momentum towards ESG and greater transparency across the sector.”
ENDS
Notes to editors
All EPRA members were surveyed for the purposes of this report. Their annual and sustainability reports for the year between 1st July 2019 and 30th June 2020 inclusive were analysed.
About EPRA
The European Public Real Estate Association is the voice of the publicly traded European real estate sector. With more than 270 members, covering the whole spectrum of the listed real estate industry (companies, investors and their suppliers), EPRA represents over EUR 600 billion of real estate assets* and 94% of the market capitalisation of the FTSE EPRA Nareit Europe Index. EPRA’s mission is to promote, develop and represent the European public real estate sector. We achieve this through the provision of better information to investors and stakeholders, active involvement in the public and political debate, promotion of best practices and the cohesion and strengthening of the industry. Find out more about our activities on www.epra.com.
*European companies only
About JLL
JLL (NYSE: JLL) is a leading professional services firm that specialises in real estate and investment management. JLL shapes the future of real estate for a better world by using the most advanced technology to create rewarding opportunities, amazing spaces and sustainable real estate solutions for our clients, our people and our communities. JLL is a Fortune 500 company with annual revenue of USD18.0 billion, operations in over 80 countries and a global workforce of more than 94,000 as of March 31, 2020. JLL is the brand name and a registered trademark of Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated. For further information, visit www.jll.com
For more information please contact:
Henry Adams: +44 (0)208-618-2975 / +44-(0)7725-192-067, henry.adams@fhflondon.co.uk
Cyrielle Doll : +32 2 739 10 18/ +32 484 53 34 35, c.doll@epra.com
