Investment funds seek sustainability in infrastructure spending

A group of global institutional investors has announced a system known as GRESB Infrastructure to create a “global sustainability benchmark” for investments in infrastructure projects.

The investors include California public employees investment fund CalPERS, the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and several large European funds, including London-based Aviva Investors. The fund managers say they represent a combined $1.5 trillion in investing power.

The new investor-led initiative has allied itself with Amsterdam-based Global Real Estate Sustainability Board (GRESB), which describes itself as having developed a “global standard for portfolio-level sustainability assessment in real estate.”

A description of the GRESB Infrastructure assessment scorecard shows eight categories, with two of them that likely have recycling implications being “Using Natural Resources” and “Waste & Pollution.”

“Given the long-term horizon and the societal impact of infrastructure investment, sustainability and broader environmental, social and governance considerations are critically important for infrastructure investors,” says Patrick Kanters, managing director of global real estate and infrastructure for Netherlands-based participating investor APG Asset Management. “Therefore we join forces in setting up a global benchmark that provides insight, allows us to measure the progress and gives us the means to engage with our investee funds and companies.”

“CalPERS looks forward to working with GRESB’s platform to gain insights into current and prospective infrastructure assets,” says Anne Stausboll, CEO of CalPERS. “GRESB has an established and global track record in assessing and evaluating social and environmental factors, which will shed more light on sustainability considerations for investors to understand and manage. Utilizing this platform gives CalPERS a process for implementing our investment beliefs, enabling us to better understand and navigate the multi-faceted risks and opportunities of our portfolio.”

The first assessments under the GRESB Infrastructure framework are expected to take place in the first quarter of 2016, says the organization.