ISCA and GRESB Sign MOU – Partnership Focuses on Industry Alignment and Collaboration
ISCA and GRESB Sign MOU – Partnership Focuses on Industry Alignment and Collaboration
Measuring and driving sustainable outcomes in the built environment will become more aligned now that international body GRESB and ISCA have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).
With collaboration embedded in the DNA of both organizations, the MOU will create the basis for coordination, alignment and mutual recognition between the GRESB Infrastructure Assessment and the IS Rating Tools.
The vision is to provide asset managers and operators with one “process” that facilitates both reporting to the GRESB Infrastructure Asset Assessment and applying for an IS Operations rating.
GRESB and ISCA will collaborate to streamline connections between IS project and asset operations ratings and GRESB assessments for companies and assets with the aim of reducing participant reporting burden, enhancing data validation processes, and maximising value.
ISCA and GRESB will also work together to advance the rigor of the conversation about sustainable infrastructure, which will result in a joint output.
“We have an obligation to accelerate and enable sustainability wherever we possibly can, and by partnering with GRESB, we are creating more pathways, making sustainability even more accessible for the infrastructure industry,” said Ainsley Simpson, ISCA CEO.
“We’re big advocates of increasing the alignment between sustainability guidelines, frameworks and rating tools in the infrastructure sector. We are excited by this opportunity to work with ISCA to provide greater clarity on what constitutes sustainable performance in infrastructure investments, which then serves as the base for the industry’s collective efforts to help drive improvements,“ said Rick Walters, Director Infrastructure, GRESB.
About GRESB and ISCA
GRESB’s mission is to enhance and protect shareholder value by assessing and empowering sustainability practices in the real asset sector.
GRESB assesses the sustainability performance of real estate and infrastructure portfolios and assets worldwide. It offers ESG data, Scorecards, Benchmark Reports and portfolio analysis tools.
The Assessments are guided by what investors and the industry consider to be material issues in the sustainability performance of real asset investments and are aligned with international reporting frameworks such as GRI and PRI.
Assessment participants receive comparative business intelligence on where they stand against their peers, a roadmap with the actions they can take to improve their ESG performance and a communication platform to engage with investors.
Investors use the ESG data and GRESB’s analytical tools to improve the sustainability performance of their investment portfolios, engage with managers and prepare for increasingly rigorous ESG obligations.
Now in its third year, the 2018 Infrastructure Assessment covered 75 funds and 280 assets (an increase of 75% on the previous year) valued at over US$500 billion. GRESB Investor Members jointly represent over USD 18 trillion in institutional capital.
The Infrastructure Sustainability Council of Australia (ISCA) is certified social enterprise, member-based not-for-profit and the peak industry body for advancing sustainability outcomes in infrastructure. ISCA’s purpose is to accelerate sustainability in infrastructure. ISCA’s values which drive our culture of value creation are:
Collaboration | Passion | Change | Knowledge
The principle means by which ISCA is advancing sustainability outcomes in infrastructure is through; the development and facilitation of the IS rating scheme, building capacity of industry through training and workshops, engaging industry stakeholders through a community of practice and driving innovation.