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With the pandemic now well into its third year, most office occupiers in Asia Pacific are displaying a clear shift towards embracing real estate strategies that recognise that COVID-19 is here to stay for the long-term.

Among these approaches are a sharper focus on wellness and sustainability in the workplace, with CBRE Asia Pacific’s 2022 Spring Office Occupier Survey finding that most tenants are implementing or at the very least considering a range of related initiatives.

This ViewPoint by CBRE Research expands upon the survey findings and identifies the main challenges and priorities facing landlords and investors as they look to respond to growing occupier demand for green buildings, leases and technologies.

This report was originally published in https://www.cbre.com/insights/viewpoints/asia-pacific-viewpoint-landlords-and-tenants-must-collaborate-to-achieve-sustainability-goals-jul

Cushman & Wakefield Greater China's report begins by considering and explaining what climate positive is and means. Secondly, the report looks at a number of selected climate-positive approaches for sustainable real estate. Thirdly, the report examines two proven rating and benchmarking systems that can go some way to help enterprises achieve their climate positive goals, and they are:

• At the enterprise level – The Task Force on ClimateRelated Financial Disclosures (TCFD), and;

• At the real estate level – The Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB).

This report was originally published in https://www.cushmanwakefield.com/en/greater-china/insights/china-sustainability-climate-positive-report-2022

CHINA

“The year got off to a challenging start in China with a slowing economy and continued debt crisis exacerbated by lockdowns. Liquidity crunches may force developers to accelerate disposals at discounted rates while interest rate cuts and reduced quarantine periods should make investments more attractive.” – James Macdonald, China

HONG KONG

“In Hong Kong investment sentiment has stabilised as the local epidemic situation has improved but plenty of caution remains. Investors are keen to look for value-add strategies including redevelopment and conversion.” – Simon Smith, Hong Kong

This starter guide provides a quick summary of approaches to responsible investment for direct and indirect real estate investors. It outlines options for including ESG issues in the investment process, management of assets and the relationship between asset owner and investment manager.

Investing in real estate presents two key ESG considerations when compared with many other asset classes. Firstly, real estate is usually a long-term investment, allowing more time for material ESG issues to play out in ways that affect investors, the environment and society. Secondly, many ESG issues play out at a local level, for example extreme weather, water stress, legislative and/or regulatory requirements and community relations. Direct real estate investments are inextricably linked to a specific geographic location, making the incorporation of ESG issues particularly relevant.

This report was originally published in https://www.unpri.org/an-introduction-to-responsible-investment/an-introduction-to-responsible-investment-real-estate/5628.article