PERE: Sustainable investing

This article first appeared in the December 2024/January 2025 edition of PERE.

LaSalle’s Ryu Konishi and Julie Manning spoke to PERE about the growing importance of sustainability as part of investment decision-making and LaSalle’s approach to creating a global real estate net zero carbon pathway strategy.

A 360-degree approach to decarbonization

The importance of sustainability as part of investment decision-making in the real estate space has been on the rise for quite some time. In fact, the various physical risks associated with climate change, and the regulatory imperative of transitioning to net zero, are now so significant that these factors are gradually filtering through in the form of real-world valuation impacts.

For real estate investors, this raises both risks and opportunities. LaSalle Investment Management is one firm that was early to recognize this, having set up a global sustainability committee back in 2008. More recently, it has worked with the Urban Land Institute to develop a decision-making framework for assessing physical climate risk in relation to its real estate investments.

According to Julie Manning, global head of climate and carbon, and Ryu Konishi, fund manager of Lp3F (LaSalle’s global real estate net-zero strategy), this kind of approach to risk analysis – both broad and deep – is essential. So, where should investors start? And what might a determined decarbonization program in real estate look like?