Embassy Office Parks REIT (NSE: EMBASSY / BSE: 542602) (‘Embassy REIT’), India’s first listed REIT and the largest office REIT in Asia by area, is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a 5-star rating by GRESB, the leading global ESG standard for real estate and infrastructure investments, for its entire 42.8 msf operational and development portfolio. GRESB has also recognized Embassy REIT as a Sector Leader for office development in Asia for its sustainability leadership, a milestone for an Indian REIT.
Vikaash Khdloya, CEO, Embassy REIT, said, “We’re proud to report that our industry leading ESG program has once again been recognised by GRESB, the global standard in ESG benchmarking. In only our second year of participation, we’ve received the highest rating of 5 stars for both our operational and development portfolio. ESG remains a key pillar of our strategy to deliver long-term value to all our stakeholders.”
In line with its 2040 net-zero commitment, Embassy REIT created a 3-year roadmap for its 19 ESG programs across three pillars – Resilient Planet, Revitalized Communities, and Responsible Business and continues to make significant progress on the same. Embassy REIT achieved an overall GRESB score of 96% for its Development portfolio and 87% for its Standing Investment portfolio. Embassy REIT stood out in particular with a full score on the ‘Governance’ pillar of the GRESB Real Estate assessment, reflecting the best-in-class corporate governance standards adopted and followed by the REIT. GRESB is a mission-driven and industry-led organization providing standardized and validated Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) data to financial markets. Established in 2009, GRESB has become the leading ESG benchmark for real estate and infrastructure investments across the world, used by more than 170 institutional and financial investors to inform decision-making. The GRESB ESG Benchmark grew this year to cover more than USD 8.6 trillion of assets under management, up from USD 6.4 trillion the year before.