GRESB (formerly Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark) is a mission driven and investor led organization providing standardized Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) data to the capital markets. Established in 2009, GRESB has become the leading ESG benchmark for real estate and infrastructure investments across the world.

In 2023, over 2,000 property companies, REITs, funds, and developers with USD 7.2 trillion in assets, covering 170,000+ assets across 75 countries participated in the GRESB Real Estate Assessment. Additionally, a further 172 funds and 687 assets participated in one of the GRESB Infrastructure Assessments.

The ESG data collected through GRESB is used by more than 150 institutional and financial investors to monitor investments across portfolios and understand the opportunities, risks and choices that need to be made as the industry transitions to a more sustainable future.

This year, for the 2024 Real Estate Assessment, the “Get It Fair (GIF) ESG Rating and Reporting Assurance Scheme” has been added in the list of GRESB-approved ESG Assurance Standards. This acceptance by GRESB offers participants the opportunity to achieve additional points for a number of indicators across the Management and Performance Components of the GRESB Real Estate Assessment through the use of Get If Fair.

Directly, the GIF ESG Rating and Reporting Assurance Scheme enable participants to achieve additional points on five indicators:  ESG reporting (RP1) as well as for the external review of energy, GHG, water and waste data (indicators MR1-MR4).

Indirectly, the Due Diligence against the GIF Framework – a management model based on internationally recognized guidelines (OECD) and standards (ISO 26000, GRI) – can support participants in achieving additional points on a number of indicators, particularly within the Management Component. Examples of topics covered by the Framework are responsibilities and accountabilities (LE3 & LE5), ESG policies (PO1-PO3), Management Systems (RM1), Employee safety (SE4), Supply chain engagement and monitoring (SE6 & SE7.2), and many others.

Furthermore, participating in GRESB can support organisations to improve the Get It Fair score:

  1. Measuring and comparing ESG performance against peers
  2. Acting as a tool investor-manager engagement
  3. prioritising areas for improvements based on comparison with the approaches undertaken by the most similar entities

In particular, the ESG insights and analytics obtained by participating in the GRESB Assessments enable to compare information provided by other organisations into their specific sectors.

Overall, the recognition from GRESB, confirms the validity of the “Get It Fair ESG Rating and Reporting Assurance Scheme” for assuring sustainability reporting and value the information confirmed through their assessments.

For those who want to find more about how Get It Fair and GRESB can work together in practice, we have a first-of-its kind case study presented by one of Diligentia’s founding partners, Environmental, Social, Governance Solutions, at the ESG Forum 2023, that can be found right here.