Industrial companies in Austria, Germany and Switzerland are still at an early stage as far as environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors are concerned. For many firms, becoming familiar with the content and impact of ESG criteria, and molding them into a strategy, are tasks that still lie ahead.
Establishing a consistent and resilient digital transformation strategy is another challenge. The latest Real Estate in Industry 2022 trend study by Drees & Sommer presents these and other key findings.
Once again, real estate experts from industrial companies took part in this year’s study. A total of 180 participants responded to questions about their real estate management organization, trends and sustainability in the company. There were new questions this year about knowledge and strategy regarding environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues.
Other results show that most real estate specialists continue to complain about a lack of transparency and attention on the part of management. The majority see themselves as owner representatives of the properties and their management processes. A digital transformation strategy geared towards the future represents a major challenge for the participants: 73 percent of respondents consider this to be a major hurdle.
Growing Pressure to Act Along Sustainable Lines
ESG, EU taxonomy and public opinion are having an impact. In the previous year's study, 94 percent of respondents had said they felt pressure from society to act along sustainable lines. This year, 86 percent continue to perceive this demand.
Nearly half of the respondents admitted not knowing ESG and its associated requirements, or only knowing them in part. Nevertheless, 71 percent of companies have a complete or partial strategy in place for this purpose.
Sustainability, and ESG in particular, is not an issue that real estate teams can resolve on their own. The study states: ‘ESG, and the associated requirements and regulations, are not a real estate matter, but a corporate issue. The corporate strategy must cover the whole range in this respect: from the company, to organization and processes, the core business or product, to production, the sites, and thus through the entire area of real estate.’
Detailed information on the study and further results can be downloaded under this link (available in German language).