PERE Network
Decarb Forum
Sponsors
Building resilient real estate portfolios with decarbonization
Join the PERE Network to attend the inaugural Decarb Forum, gathering the largest asset owners and strategic partners to accelerate sustainable solutions and deliver financing to implement decarbonization plans.
Understand how asset owners are reducing portfolio carbon emissions to protect their investments and meet the sustainability consultants and technology innovators at the forefront of sustainability in real estate.
Explore topics including:
- Leaders in sustainability define net-zero across the built environment, identify opportunities and challenges in the transition, and discuss regulations on sustainable investing
- Decarbonizing Europe – understand leading asset owners’ net-zero strategies
- Assessing, disclosing and pricing transition risks
- Embodied carbon and how to tackle it
- Harnessing technological innovation to accelerate your journey to net zero
Europe Forum
The Decarb Forum is co-located with PERE Network’s Europe Forum taking place on 16-17 April 2024. The Europe Forum connects global fund managers with the biggest institutional investors in the region.
Add the Europe Forum to your itinerary so you can network with 100+ institutional investors and advance your fundraising with access to new and emerging private real estate opportunities.
Join now to gain access to both the Decarb Forum and the Europe Forum.
Keynote interview: Safeguarding the future
Isabelle Scemama (Left)
Global Head
AXA IM Alts
Tracy Stroh (Right)
Head of Europe, Real Estate
GIC Real Estate
Hear from Isabelle to reveal responsible investing and climate action strategies so you can ensure the resilience of your real estate portfolios.
Learn what institutional investors expect of asset managers as Tracy and Isabelle discuss AXA’s blueprint to accelerate decarbonization of the built environment.
Decarbonized and resilient real estate: how to mitigate physical and transition risk
Professor Dr. Sven Bienert
Project Lead of CRREM (Carbon Risk Real Estate Monitor)
Director at the University of Regensburg
Hear from Isabelle to reveal responsible investing and climate action strategies so you can ensure the resilience of your real estate portfolios.
Learn what institutional investors expect of asset managers as Tracy and Isabelle discuss AXA’s blueprint to accelerate decarbonization of the built environment.
2024 speakers include
Reach your net-zero goals
Fine-tune your decarbonization strategies, combining lessons learned and new methodologies to meet net-zero commitments
Unparalleled networking
Unlock new opportunities by meeting with peers and hear directly from investors as they share challenges on the road to a low-carbon future
Be in-the-know on the latest sustainability innovations
Explore technologies that enable asset owners and developers to drastically reduce carbon emissions in real estate
Apply for a complimentary Institutional Investor pass
A limited number of complimentary passes are available for allocators and institutional investors to join the event.
Complimentary investor passes are limited to foundations, endowments, trusts, insurance companies, single family offices, sovereign wealth funds and pension funds who are actively making fund commitments and do not engage in third-party fundraising activities or collect fees for advisory/consulting services.
Apply for a pass and a member of our team will follow up with you to secure your pass.
Pre-Event Resources
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Thought leadership, branding and networking opportunities
Be part of thought-provoking discussions with leading institutional investors, fund and asset managers, developers, advisers, and strategic partners. Sponsorship gives you:
- VIP access
- Thought-leadership opportunities
- High-profile branding
- And much more …
For exclusive sponsorship packages for 2024, contact Nick Hayes, our Global Business Development Director of Real Estate at nick.h@peimedia.com
Institutional Investors at the PERE Decarb Forum 2024
A limited number of complimentary passes are available for allocators and institutional investors to join the PERE Network’s Decarb Forum.
Complimentary investor passes are limited to foundations, endowments, trusts, insurance companies, single-family offices, sovereign wealth funds and pension funds who are actively making fund commitments and do not engage in third-party fundraising activities or collect fees for advisory/consulting services.
Apply for a pass and a member of our team will follow up with you to secure your pass.
Investors at PERE Decarb Forum 2024
The Forum gathers the largest investors and strategic partners to accelerate sustainable solutions and deliver financing to implement decarbonization plans.
Check out the benefits of joining the conference and who among your peers you will be joining. Apply for a complimentary pass for your or your team today.
Hear from sustainability leaders
Network and arrange one-to-one meetings with the leading decarbonization experts.
Network with your peers
Build your network of peers, explore their net-zero strategies and understand implementation challenges.
Get the latest insights
Take advantage of our world-class speaking faculty to stay aligned with developments and the latest innovations in the market.
Decarbonize Europe
Future-proof your real estate portfolio, transition to a climate-neutral society and build a better future for all.
THE NETWORK FOR GLOBAL REAL ESTATE
Make better connections at the Decarb Forum and beyond
The PERE Network is a year-round program of networking and content that enhances the experience of our members at the PERE Europe Forum.
Members can connect with more than 1,200 investors and managers throughout the year, setup pre-meetings with those attending the Forum, meet in-person on the day, or pick up a conversation after the Forum:
- Find investors who match your investment strategies and set up meetings ahead of the event on our membership platform.
- Get personalised introductions to investors that fit your profile from our dedicated networking team before, during, and after the event.
- Access unique, critical insights exclusive to members throughout the year along with preferential rates to attend any event within the global PERE portfolio
Our network makes decisions that shape markets
Explore opportunities with investors from across the globe today with access to the most influential private real estate network.
2024 speakers include:
PERE Decarb Forum brings together C-level executives and industry thought-leaders to discuss about sustainable solutions and deliver financing to implement decarbonization plans. Download the agenda to learn about the sessions to be discussed at the Forum.
Please contact Brix Sumagaysay at brix.s@pei.group for a discussion on key topics and speaking opportunities at the PERE Decarb Forum 2024.
Sven Bienert
Director, Competence Center of Sustainable Real Estate, University of Regensburg and Project Lead, Carbon Risk Real Estate Monitor (CRREM)
Isabelle Scemama
Global Head of AXA IM Alts, Member of AXA IM Management Board, Member of the Board of Directors of EPRA
View the key conversation topics
Download 2024 agenda to see how asset owners look to reduce carbon emissions from their portfolio, and how sustainability consultants and technology innovators play an integral role on the road to a net-zero future.
Agenda
PERE Decarb Forum - Monday 15th
09:45 - 11:00
Registration and networking breakfast
10:15 - 11:00
Breakfast briefing: Carbon accounting (pre-registration required)
Nagadarsan Suresh
- Special look at the current measurement and reporting of financed emissions
- Standardizing carbon accounting and disclosing GHG emissions
- Identifying opportunities and beginning the journey towards decarbonization
Facilitator: Nagadarsan Suresh, Project Manager, Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF)
1 Speaker
Plenary
11:00 - 11:10
Welcome and opening remarks
Judi Seebus
Brix Sumagaysay, Senior Conference Producer, PEI Group
Conference Chair: Judi Seebus, Senior Investment Writer ＆ Communications Consultant, Text Team
1 Speaker
11:10 - 11:50
Keynote interview: Safeguarding the future
Isabelle Scemama,
Tracy Stroh
Investment giant AXA IM Alts speaks with private real estate’s largest capital allocator, GIC, about investing responsibly, driving climate action, and ensuring the long-term sustainability of the world we live in. Learn how one of the world’s leading asset managers invests in line with a 1.5˚C goal and hear first-hand what investors expect of their fund managers.
Isabelle Scemama
Global Head of AXA IM Alts, Member of AXA IM Management Board, Member of the Board of Directors of EPRA
Read bio
2 Speakers
11:50 - 12:30
Keynote panel: State of play: Net-zero in the global setting
Lucy Fitzgeorge-Parker,
Susanne Eickermann-Riepe,
Michele Giddens OBE,
Pauline Bottema-Sanders,
Hala El Akl
- Leaders in sustainability define net-zero across the built environment, identify opportunities and challenges in the transition, and discuss regulations on sustainable investing
- How can the industry limit the global temperature increase to 1.5 degrees? And whose responsibility is that, exactly?
- Institutional investors’ key role on the journey to a low-carbon future
- Key outcomes, takeaways and what has been achieved in the past 12 months
Moderator: Lucy Fitzgeorge-Parker, Editor, Responsible Investor
Hala El Akl
Vice President of Sustainable Investing and Operations, Oxford Properties Group
Read bio
5 Speakers
12:30 - 13:10
Panel: Decarbonizing Europe – leading asset managers’ net-zero strategies
Toby Mitchenall,
Derk Welling,
Diana Louis,
Claus Mathisen,
Annachiara Torciano
- How are sustainability considerations prioritized differently among European countries?
- How do European regulations affect investment strategies?
- Driving better long-term financial performance with sustainability initiatives
- Who bears the cost of the net-zero transition and how does it affect returns?
Moderator: Toby Mitchenall, Senior Editor, ESG and Sustainability, PEI Group
5 Speakers
13:10 - 14:10
Networking lunch
Plenary
14:10 - 14:50
Panel: Financing the green transition
Elisabeth Jeffries,
Öykü Kurtoglu,
Jessica Pilz,
Stéphane Villemain
- Fund managers and institutions’ plans for financing the green transition
- How banks are incorporating climate and environmental risks into their processes
- Green financial instruments for businesses – what works best for real estate?
Moderator: Elisabeth Jeffries, ESG Writer, Editor, Spotted Lynx Media
4 Speakers
14:50 - 15:10
Presentation: Decarbonized and resilient real estate: how to mitigate physical and transition risk
Sven Bienert
Current regulations and changing market expectations will result in obsolescence of assets that no longer meet the new energy and technical requirements. The CRREM initiative enables investors and asset managers to implement structured decarbonization of their real estate portfolios.
Speaker: Professor Dr. Sven Bienert, CRREM Initiative Lead, Director, Competence Center of Sustainable Real Estate, International Real Estate Business School, University of Regensburg
Sven Bienert
Director, Competence Center of Sustainable Real Estate, University of Regensburg and Project Lead, Carbon Risk Real Estate Monitor (CRREM)
Read bio
1 Speaker
15:10 - 15:50
Panel: How do you solve a problem like embodied carbon
Hassan Sabir,
Erik Landry,
Rebecca Pearce,
Nagadarsan Suresh,
Thomas Stanchak
- Comparing different sources of building materials to decarbonize the supply chains, other strategies to reduce embodied carbon
- Collecting and tracking embodied carbon data, and what to do with it
- Demolishing vs retrofitting stranded assets
Moderator: Hassan Sabir, Finance and ESG Director, EPRA
5 Speakers
15:50 - 16:10
Networking coffee break
Plenary
16:10 - 16:35
Presentation: European regulations and innovations on decarbonization
Dirk Paelinck
- Spotlight on the EU Geen Deal of the European Commission, the impact of current and upcoming regulations, and a look at greenwashing in real estate
- A comprehensive review of current and future proptech innovations focused on decarbonizing the real estate industry
- Challenges when implementing new technologies
Speaker: Dirk Paelinck, Chairman, European PropTech Association
1 Speaker
16:35 - 17:15
Panel: What is in your toolbox – harnessing technological innovation to accelerate to net zero
Heleen van Poecke,
Giulia Peretti,
Maximilian Kufer,
Mauricio Serna,
Tzvete Doncheva
- Use of digitalization to enable the flow of critical information across all life-cycle stages of projects (planning, design, construction, use, and end of life)
- Technological innovations to support the green transition of new construction – how can we speed up bringing technology solutions to market?
- How can engaging the right stakeholders and building technology partnerships help drive a companys’ innovation and strategy
Moderator: Heleen van Poecke, Co-Founder and CEO, KEY ESG
5 Speakers
17:15 - 18:15
End of day and networking cocktails
Sven Bienert
Director, Competence Center of Sustainable Real Estate, University of Regensburg and Project Lead, Carbon Risk Real Estate Monitor (CRREM)
Prof. Bienert has a chair for ESG/Sustainability at the university of Regensburg and was heading the real estate department with 60 employees there for many years. He received many awards for his research. Prof. Bienert had different industry positions including CEO for a large fund. Head of the CRREM initiative and Managing director of the IIÖ Ltd. He holds various supervisory board mandates and supports in key positions many industry initiatives.
After graduating as a qualified bank employee Prof. Dr. Sven Bienert MRICS REV studied real estate economics and business administration with the specialization in finance at the University Lueneburg. He wrote his PhD-thesis at the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg about the “Impact of Basel II on real estate project financing”. The thesis was awarded with distinction, i.e. „summa cum laude“. Prof. Bienert worked for many years in top position for leading real estate companies and in the consulting business. Since April 2010 Prof. Dr. Bienert is Head of the IRE|BS Competence Center of Sustainable Real Estate at the University of Regensburg and university chair holder. Parallel he was from 2011 on active as a Managing Director for Probus Real Estate GmbH headquartered in Vienna (ca. 2,1 bil. assets under management) until 2013. Prof. Bienert is editor and author of many real estate books and won numerous research awards. Furthermore he works as an independent consultant and valuer heading his company as director. He is on the board of numerous real estate associations like DGNB („Immobilienbeirat“), ZIA („Nachhaltigkeitsbeirat“), Austrian Association of Real Estate Experts (ARE board member), „Verein zur Förderung der Qualität in der Immobilienwirtschaft“ (ImmQu board member), Corporate Governance Institute of the German Real Estate Industry (ICG board member) and “Deutschen Vereinigung für Finanzanalyse und Asset Management e.V.” (DVFA heading the real estate commission). He was between 2016 – 2018 member of the supervisory board of CA Immobilien Anlagen AG, from 2019 - 2022 on the supervisory board of Immofinanz AG and was in June 2015 appointed to the supervisory board of the ZIMA Holding AG and in 2019 appointed to advisory board of Ratisbona Holding.
CRREM
CRREM is the leading global initiative regarding target setting, enabling market participants to manage and reduce their operational carbon emissions for standing real estate investments. The initiative provides institutional real estate investors, managers, and other stakeholders globally, with a clear Paris-aligned direction to set and control ambitious 1.5 aligned decarbonization targets in order to stay in the downscaled “fair share” of the GHG budget for real estate in the use phase (operational emissions).
Pauline Bottema-Sanders
General Counsel, Edge
Pauline Bottema-Sanders is General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at Edge since 2021. Pauline oversees the legal aspects of Edge’s internal and external processes including governance, compliance, and ethics. As Company Secretary, she acts as an essential advisor to the Edge’s Board. Pauline is also responsible for Human Resources and member of the Edge’s executive committee. Prior to joining Edge, Pauline worked at RAI Amsterdam as General Counsel and Corporate Secretary where she was member of the management board and responsible for all legal, compliance and quality aspects of RAI’s business in the Netherlands and abroad. Pauline started her career in 1999 at the international law firm, Stibbe, where she was member of the M&A and Equity Capital Markets teams. In this role she managed (inter)national M&A transactions, advising nationally and internationally listed companies in areas of corporate law and contract law, compliance and governance. Pauline is also member of the supervisory board of Hello Zuidas and Het Nationale Theater.
During her career, Pauline has worked and lived in Amsterdam, New York and Paris.
Edge
Edge puts the people and planet first when developing and redeveloping buildings for global companies. Our buildings are developed with the highest levels of sustainability using the latest solutions offered by modern technology. With operations in the Netherlands, Germany and the United Kingdom, as well as joint ventures in the United States, Edge is currently developing around €5 billion of new office buildings. Edge continues to learn from the people who work in our buildings, ensuring the most healthy and productive work environments in today’s market.
With Workspaces and Next, Edge launched two new subsidiaries in 2020. Edge Workspaces offers flexible office space and memberships in a selection of Edge buildings. Edge Next offers a seamless solution to optimising any office building’s performance through a sensor connected platform.
For more information, please visit edge.tech
Tzvete Doncheva
Investor Relations Lead, PT1 Ventures
Tzvete is the International Investor Relations Lead at PT1, a European venture capital fund investing in transformative technologies for real assets. The fund is backed by institutional and private investors from the real estate, and adjacent industries (JLL Spark, Commerz Real, Besix). Tzvete joined the company in 2021 to support the Managing Partners in fundraising and work on expanding the firm’s international LP footprint, which now counts investors from North, and South Europe, and Benelux. Tzvete was part of the oversubscribed final close of PT1 Fund 1(at north of 50M euros) and of the first closes of PT1 Fund 2 (>50M euros).
Before starting her career in VC, Tzvete was a TV journalist for a large Bulgarian media network. Social causes she cares about are improving the entrepreneurship landscape in the UK (on the advisory board of The Entrepreneurs Network, and Girls in Charge), and tackling extreme poverty in Britain and Bulgaria.
Susanne Eickermann-Riepe
Chair, RICS European World Regional Board
Susanne Eickermann-Riepe FRICS is Chair of the RICS European World Regional Board and Chair of the Advisory Board of RICS Germany, a global professional association with over 134.000 members worldwide (www.rics.org). She is also the Chairwomen of the ICG Institute (www.icg-institute.de), which works with high-ranking German real estate companies on standards, values and sustainability to improve governance in the real estate industry. She was a partner at PwC for almost 20 years, led the German real estate business and was part of PwC’s EMEA and Global Leadership team. She works on sustainability issues and innovations in the real estate industry with the IMPACT format on the Platform Builtword Leading Innovation (www.builtworld.com). She also works as an independent Senior Executive Advisor and holds various advisory and supervisory board mandates.
Hala El Akl
Vice President of Sustainable Investing and Operations, Oxford Properties Group
Hala El Akl is Oxford’s Vice President of Sustainable Investing and Operations. Hala is the global leader of Oxford’s ESG program, and works collaboratively across functions such as Investment, Asset Management, Operations, Development, Finance and Investment Risk to implement the company’s holistic ESG strategy. Hala also is a member of the OMERS Sustainable Investing Committee and Climate Action Plan Implementation Team.
Prior to Oxford, Hala was a Director at PLP Architecture and a Founding Director of PLP Labs. As an architect and urbanist, she led teams to deliver highly sustainable and innovative commercial, life-science, residential, retail and mixed-use projects across the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. At PLP Labs, she explored new ideas for future cities, with a focus on environmental and social sustainability. Hala currently serves on the Global Board of Directors of the Urban Land Institute, and on the Cambridge University Land Economy board.
She received her MSc in Urban Policy from the London School of Economics, a Masters in Territorial and Urban Strategies from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences-Po), and both a Bachelor of Architecture and a
Bachelor of Social Sciences from the American University of Beirut, Lebanon.
Lucy Fitzgeorge-Parker
Editor, Responsible Investor, PEI Group
Lucy Fitzgeorge-Parker joined Responsible Investor as editor in 2022 from Euromoney magazine, where she was ESG editor. Prior to that, she was Euromoney’s editor for Central and Eastern Europe and contributing editor at GlobalCapital. She has covered most aspects of banking and capital markets since switching to journalism from investment banking in 2003.
Michele Giddens OBE
Co-founder ＆ Co-CEO, Bridges Fund Management
Michele co-founded Bridges alongside Philip Newborough and Sir Ronald Cohen in 2002 and now oversees strategy, client development, talent development, public affairs and impact management. She sits on the Investment Committee for all Bridges funds and has a key role in leading and developing Bridges’ internal team and directing the firm’s strategic growth.
Michele has played a leading role in the growth of the sustainable and impact investing sectors in the UK and worldwide. She was an adviser to the UK Treasury’s Social Investment Task Force and chaired the Community Development Finance Association from 2003-2005. She chaired the UK National Advisory Board on Impact Investing (part of the Global Social Impact Investment Steering Group) from 2016-18, chaired a Global Working Group on Policy for the G7 Impact Investment Taskforce, and sat on the BVCA Council. She served as a Non-Executive Director on the board of CDC (now BII), the UK Government’s Development Finance Institution, from 2014-2022. Michele is also a Trustee for the Bridges Impact Foundation.
Michele has over 30 years’ experience in sustainable and impact investing and international development finance, having previously worked with International Finance Corporation, the private sector financing arm of the World Bank Group, and with Shorebank Corporation, one of the leading community development banks in the USA, where she ran small business lending programmes in Russia, Central and Eastern Europe, and advised on microfinance in Bangladesh, the Middle East and Mongolia.
Michele has a BA Honours in Politics, Philosophy & Economics from Oxford University and an MBA from Georgetown University, Washington, DC. She was awarded an OBE for services to international development and social finance in the 2018 Queen’s Birthday Honours list.
Bridges Fund Management
Bridges is a specialist private markets investor. For over 20 years, we’ve been investing in solutions that support the transition to a more inclusive and sustainable economy. We are driven by a clear conviction: that building a better future for people and the planet is also a unique opportunity to create lasting economic value. Some people call this impact investing. We think it’s just good investing. (In fact, we think it’s the future of all investing.
Elisabeth Jeffries
ESG writer and editor, Spotted Lynx Media
Elisabeth Jeffries is a contributor to PEI Media, reporting on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues in investment. As a writer and editor on ESG, she led on coverage of climate-related disclosure in 2011 and natural capital in 2018 for generalist UK finance publications.
Previously, Elisabeth contributed to broadening awareness of many nascent environmental policies and technologies beyond the environment business sector. This was achieved during the 2000s by diversifying coverage to trade journals ranging from Farmers Weekly to Inside Housing, and to consumer media such as The Times and Spectator magazine.
In 2011, she founded Spotted Lynx Media, building on this expertise to assist custom publishers, public sector and nonprofits by demystifying many complex ESG innovations and initiatives for the benefit of client audiences.
Maximilian Kufer
Head of ESG Client Strategy for EMEA and Global Private Markets, Invesco
Maximilian Kufer is Head of ESG for EMEA Client Strategies and Global Private Markets, which include Invesco’s Global Real Estate and Private Credit platforms. Based in London, Mr. Kufer is responsible for client engagement, development of ESG strategies and representing Invesco in industry forums. In his role, he sets the strategic direction for ESG, leads investment teams on best practice as well as chairs ESG committees within investment centres. Mr. Kufer is a member of the IIGCC Property Group, ELFA ESG Committee, GRESB Infrastructure Debt working group and LSTA ESG Advisory Board. Prior to joining Invesco, Mr. Kufer was Global Sustainability Manager at AXA IM – Alts where he was responsible for the ESG strategy within real estate, infrastructure and private credit. Mr. Kufer has previously worked as a financial analyst and property manager in Paris and holds a dual BSc in Finance and Environmental Science from the American University of Paris as well as an MSc in Finance from INSEEC.
Öykü Kurtoglu
Head of Sustainability & ESG, PAREF
Oyku Kurtoglu is the Head of Sustainability & ESG at Paris-listed Real Estate Investment Group – PAREF (ex-Paris Reality Fund). She previously worked in big groups such as Allianz, Danone, L'Oréal. Graduated from Galatasaray University in Management, she holds a master's degree from Université Paris-Est on Sustainability and received certificates from ESSEC and Harvard Business School on Sustainable Business. She led several projects during her early career in France and Turkey, on sustainability reporting, and strategy across Europe.
PAREF
PAREF is a leading European player in real estate management, with over 30 years of experience and the aim of being one of the market leaders in real estate management based on its proven expertise.
Today, the Group has €3bn assets under management and operates in France, Germany, Italy, and Switzerland and provides services across the entire value chain of real estate investment: investment, fund management, renovation and development project management, asset management, and property management. This 360° approach enables it to offer integrated and tailor-made services to institutional and retail investors.
The Group is committed to creating more value to support its sustainable growth by integrating ESG at the heart of its strategy.
Erik Landry
Director, Climate Change, GRESB
Erik is the Director of Climate Change at GRESB, the global ESG benchmark for real assets covering over USD 8.5 trillion in real estate and infrastructure value and used by more than 170 institutional and financial investors. He is responsible for GRESB’s research, products, and partnerships with regard to net-zero alignment, climate-related risks (transition and physical), and carbon accounting. As such, he manages a suite of projects meant, in combination, to give real asset managers and investors the tools they need to make informed decisions regarding climate-related risks, advance the state-of-the-art with regards to real asset portfolio alignment with international climate goals, and position GRESB as a leader within the rapidly evolving landscapes of climate-related regulations, standards, and data solutions.
Before joining GRESB, Erik was at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he led a working group on climate-related scenarios. He currently serves on the Expert Advisory Groups of SBTi’s Buildings project, the PCAF Financing toward Net Zero Buildings project, and the UK Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard, as well as the advisory board of Asset Impact. He holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Chicago and a Master of Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
GRESB
GRESB is a mission-driven and investor-led organization providing standardized and validated Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) data to the capital markets. Established in 2009, GRESB is the leading ESG benchmark for real estate and infrastructure investments across the world. The 2023 real estate benchmark covers more than 2000 property companies, real estate investment trusts (REITs), funds, and developers. Our coverage for infrastructure includes more than 800 infrastructure funds and assets.
Combined, GRESB represents over USD 8.5 trillion in real asset value. The reported ESG data is used by more than 170 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.
Diana Louis
Head of Alternative Assets ESG Integration, MEAG
Responsible for ESG integration in Real Estate sector of MEAG. Studied civil engineering Master of Science at the Technical University of Dortmund. Member of the 'Energy and Building Technology' and 'Corporate sustainable responsibility' committees at ZIA, the central real estate association in Germany. Co-Founder of the Munich regional group of RICS Matrics, the young professional network of RICS.
Enthusiastic about all topics related to sustainable design and construction and the green transformation of the real estate industry.
Claus Mathisen
Co-CEO, Urban Partners
Claus Mathisen is Co-CEO & Partner of Urban Partners, a leading multi-fund manager with €20bn under management, investments in 15 countries and 700 employees. Nrep is the company’s real estate investment business with two decades of track record and known for its positive impact as well as strong returns, tracking at 20% net IRR since inception. The main segments are Residentials and Logistics, with sustainability and customer-centricity as the value-drivers.
Under Claus’ leadership, Nrep has pioneered a decarbonization of real estate, driven by an aggressive aspiration to achieve net zero already by 2028. This includes the use of internal carbon incentives in underwriting, new tech innovations and mid-term reduction targets of 30% and 50% on embodied and operation carbon emissions respectively.
Claus is known as a firm believer in the constructive role that private capital must play in addressing urban challenges like climate and affordability. He is personally involved in large-scale urban development projects centered around the 15-minute city concept, which holds significant CO2 reduction potential.
Claus took office as CEO in 2018 after joining in 2008. During his tenure, AuM has grown from €4bn to €20bn and the company has leveraged its domain expertise to extend into credit, venture, and private equity. Last year, the company raised the largest European value-add fund ever.
Claus has previously had a career with JP Morgan in London and later with Boston Consulting Group, working on growth strategy and operational excellence for large infrastructure clients in airport, energy, telecoms, retail, pharmaceutical and postal service sectors. He was recently nominated as global Industry Figure of the Year by PERE. Claus holds a M.Sc. in Economics from the Copenhagen Business School.
Urban Partners
Urban Partners is a platform of vision-aligned investment strategies shaped around urban problem solving. By uniting insights, stakeholders and capital, its ambition is to deliver a long-term positive impact for all stakeholders. The platform includes four ESG-focused investment strategies: Real estate, credit, venture, and private equity. The real estate strategy, Nrep, has almost 20 years of track record with roughly 500 investments and is known for its aggressive decarbonization journey as well as attractive returns, tracking at ~20% IRR since inception. Urban Partners has a total of €21bn under management and was founded in 2005. The platform manages investments in more than 15 countries and employs 700 employees. For more information, visit: www.urban.partners
Toby Mitchenall
Senior Editor, ESG ＆ Sustainability, New Private Markets, PEI Group
Toby Mitchenall has been covering private markets for 15 years; his current focus is on ESG, sustainability and impact investing.
Toby joined PEI Group in London in 2008 to report on capital flows in European private equity for Private Equity International. After a four-year break from journalism, during which Toby advised private equity market participants on their marketing and PR strategies, he returned to PEI to oversee the group’s private equity content, then comprising Private Equity International, Private Funds CFO and Secondaries Investor.
In his current role of Senior Editor, ESG ＆ Sustainability, Toby is responsible for New Private Markets, an information product that covers the spectrum of sustainable investment – from ESG to impact investment – within private markets. His areas of interest include the integration of impact investing into mainstream private markets; mechanisms for aligning sustainability with financial incentives; and the role that private capital will play in combating the climate crisis.
Dirk Paelinck
Chairman, European PropTech Association
In 2018 Dirk Paelinck founded Workero, a digital service provider organizing Coworkings within companies who want to monetize their underused workspaces and to attract innovating business partners. The same year he started organizing, with Finnova Foundation, the PropTech StartUp Europe Awards, supported and promoted by the European Commission. He co-founded the EU PropTech House in October 2018. He is also founder & CEO of Interoffices (2015), the second largest network of business centers/coworking spaces in Belgium. He has 12 years of flexible office real estate experience of which 7 as a Director for Regus, where he was awarded Area Director of the Year (2010). Previous positions include Manager Wholesales NNC Belgium-Luxembourg for all Official Dealerships Mercedes-Benz, Smart and Chrysler NNC. Developed his own real estate projects in 2004. He attended the University of Antwerp where he graduated in Roman Philology, Law and Economics. He studied classic music history, piano and guitar at the Conservatoire in Belgium.
Rebecca Pearce
Co-Funder and Director, Territorio
Rebecca is the co-founder of TERRITORIO, an independent consultancy that provides a multidimensional approach to creating better and more sustainable urban places. She trained as an architect and has a masters in human resource management, providing a unique perspective on how to create places and organisations that encourage human wellbeing whilst also optimising environmental impacts and economic benefits.
She has 30 years international experience including 7 years leading CBRE’s sustainability approach in EMEA and Australia. Her clients include global corporations, developers, owners and real estate investors in the UK, Europe and the Middle East. She also acts as head tutor for the Sustainable Real Estate course at Cambridge University Institute of Sustainability Leadership.
Giulia Peretti
Head of Sustainability, Real I.S.
Giulia Peretti is Head of Sustainability at Real I.S. in Munich, BayernLB's fund service provider specialised in real estate investments.
In this role, she is responsible for the coordination and strategic development of ESG within the Real I.S. Group at company and product level, with a focus on ESG regulation, decarbonisation and climate protection, sustainability reporting and corporate sustainability.
She has a degree in architecture with a specialisation in architecture for sustainability and is a DGNB auditor and expert for sustainable building. Peretti started her career in various architectural firms before joining the international engineering firm "Werner Sobek", where was team leader for sustainability, building physics and building certification.
Real I.S.
The Real I.S. Group is the fund service provider of Bavarian State Bank specialising in real estate investment and management. Real I.S. is one of the leading real estate asset managers on the German market. Since 1991, more than 100 fund products have been offered and placed for institutional investors and private clients. The current investment focus is on Germany, Western Europe, and Australia. The organisation’s head office is located in Munich, Germany, with foreign operating facilities in the Netherlands, Spain, Ireland and France.
With the vision “We want to create added value for society and the environment”, Real I.S. has therefore defined the transformation path to a sustainable asset manager, which is defined in its ESG mission statement. Real I.S. has adopted the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment and UN GC and consequently takes them into account in its investment activities as well as in its business and risk strategy.
Jessica Pilz
Head of Sustainable Investing, Private Markets, Fiera Real Estate
Jessica joined Fiera Real Estate in 2020, where she was responsible for the firm’s ESG strategies and initiatives across its real estate investments, developments and operations. In 2023, Jessica’s role broadened to oversee and drive Fiera Capital Private Market’s sustainable investing strategy across infrastructure, agriculture, private credit, private equity and real estate. Prior to Fiera Real Estate Jessica worked in the Commercial Real Estate Credit Team at RBS (now NatWest) where she was responsible for environmental and sustainability risk processes.
Previously, Jessica was at MSCI Real Estate, where she led their global sustainability benchmarking initiatives, and at the Public Investment Corporation Real Estate Asset Managers (PICREAM) in South Africa, where she managed a portfolio or retail assets in underserviced townships. Jessica currently sits on the Association of Real Estate Funds (AREF) ESG and Impact Investment Committee.
Hassan Sabir
Finance & ESG Director, EPRA
Hassan graduated with a LLB from Queen Mary, University of London and holds an MBA from Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University. He has 18 years of work experience in finance, ESG & strategy including 9 years in the listed real estate space.
EPRA
EPRA, the European Public Real Estate Association, is the voice of the publicly traded European real estate sector. Founded in 1999, EPRA is a not-for-profit association registered in Belgium. With more than 290 members, covering the whole spectrum of the listed real estate industry (companies, investors and their stakeholders), EPRA represents over EUR 840 billion of real estate assets and 95% of the market capitalisation of the FTSE EPRA Nareit Europe Index.
EPRA’s mission is to promote, develop and represent the European public real estate sector. We achieve this through the provision of better information to investors and stakeholders, active involvement in the public and political debate, promotion of best practices and the cohesion and strengthening of the industry.
Isabelle Scemama
Global Head of AXA IM Alts, Member of AXA IM Management Board, Member of the Board of Directors of EPRA
Isabelle Scemama is Global Head of AXA IM Alts. Isabelle oversees AXA IM’s €184bn alternative business unit, AXA IM Alts, which employs over 800 people located in 17 offices, serving the needs of more than 500 clients globally.
AXA IM Alts is a global leader in alternatives asset management, putting ESG at the heart of its investment approach, with an established position in real estate (#1 real estate investment manager in Europe, #7 worldwide), infrastructure (#3 global infrastructure debt capital raiser), private debt (#1 CRE debt capital raiser globally, #4 global private debt capital raiser) and hedge funds.
In her role, she leads the definition and execution of AXA IM Alts global strategy as well as in the supervision of its day-to-day management. Isabelle also sits on AXA IM – Real Estate and Infrastructure Investment Committees and chairs the AXA IM Alts Management Board.
Isabelle joined AXA IM - Real Assets in 2001 to develop the third-party business. Notably, she launched the CRE and infrastructure debt lending platforms in 2005 and 2013 respectively, now firmly established as global leaders, before taking responsibility of the full fund management activity of AXA IM- Real Assets. She was later appointed CEO of AXA IM – Real Assets in 2017, a role to which was added the responsibility of the overall alternatives’ asset management activity of AXA IM, as Global Head of AXA IM Alts in 2020.
Isabelle has more than 32 years of experience in the alternatives asset management industry, out of which 21 years within AXA IM. Before joining AXA IM, Isabelle held various positions in corporate and real estate financing at Paribas.
Isabelle graduated from IEP Paris (Sciences Po) with a degree in Political Science in 1989.
Judi Seebus
Senior Investment Writer & Communications Consultant, Text Team
Judi Seebus is a Freelance Writer at PERE with a long history in financial and business journalism. She is specialized in commercial real estate and impact investment and previously worked as the Editor-in-Chief of PropertyEU, the pan-European real estate publication based in the Netherlands. Judi started her career at Amsterdam-based financial daily Het Financieele Dagblad where she held various positions on both the English- and Dutch-language desks, reporting on politics, business, real estate, and art. She is fluent in both English and Dutch.
Mauricio Serna
Senior Vice President, Head of ESG, Starwood Capital Group
Mauricio Serna is a Senior Vice President and Head of Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”) at
Starwood Capital Group. In his role, Mr. Serna oversees the integration of ESG initiatives across our corporate operations and through the lifecycle of our investments with the goal of enhancing our firmwide risk management and long-term value creation strategy. Mr. Serna is also a member of Starwood Capital Group’s ESG Steering Committee and sits on the UNPRI’s Real Estate Advisory Committee.
Mr. Serna brings more than a decade of professional experience to Starwood. He began his career as an analyst
within Goldman Sach’s Sovereign Credit Risk Management and Advisory Group and was soon recruited by the bank’s Power and Utilities Investment Banking Group to support the expansion of its M&A advisory franchise for renewable energy infrastructure clients.
Mr. Serna’s interest in obtaining direct corporate operating experience led him to join CREXi—an LA-based commercial real estate startup—as its VP of Finance in 2017. During his time at CREXi, Mr. Serna oversaw the implementation the startup’s first product monetization strategy, and he established the company’s finance, accounting, and investor relations functions. CREXi raised +$40M in Series A and Series B capital from venture
capital investors during Mr. Serna’s tenure.
Mr. Serna is a proud first-generation college graduate and first-generation immigrant to the U.S. from Colombia. He earned a B.A. with a double major in Economics & Government from Georgetown University and an MBA from Harvard Business School
Thomas Stanchak
Managing Director, Sustainability, Stoneweg US
Thomas Stanchak serves as the Managing Director of Sustainability for Stoneweg US, LLC, an investor, investment manager, and developer of multifamily real estate in the United States.
Tom seeks to effectively integrate sustainable practices into multifamily real estate investing to promote resident well-being, equity, continuous improvement toward environmental goals, all while creating value for capital partners. His commitment to ESG is showcased by affiliations with respected entities such as the U.S. Department of Energy's Better Buildings Multifamily Steering Committee and the Pension Real Estate Association (PREA) Environmental Committee.
With a forward-thinking approach, Tom developed the "Multifamily Sustainability Engagement Toolkit," a SaaS platform fostering apartment community sustainability integration. Additionally, through a collaboration with Decarbon, he's worked towards a comprehensive GHG accounting and management solution.
Tom has successfully explored the opportunity potential of AI in multifamily real estate and has demonstrated his vision for improved operational efficiency and market intelligence in the area of ESG and beyond.
Under his leadership, Stoneweg US earned the Sustainability and Innovation Award, Sustainable Leadership Award from the St. Petersburg Downtown Partnership & the Environmental Defense Fund and was recognized as a Freddie Mac Multifamily Impact Sponsor.
Tom also contributes to the broader industry dialogue. He has shared insights at several industry events and penned a thoughtful byline for Propmodo on the significance of ESG in the multifamily sector. Through these efforts, Tom strives to be a collaborative force for a sustainable future in multifamily real estate.
Tracy Stroh
Head of Europe, Real Estate, GIC Real Estate
Tracy Stroh is Region Head of Real Estate (RE), Europe at GIC. In this role, Tracy is responsible for GIC RE’s real estate equity and debt investment activities. She is a voting member of GIC RE’s Global Investment Committee and is an active member of GIC’s Sustainability Committee and Women in GIC Taskforce.
Tracy joined GIC Real Estate in 2001 at the San Francisco office. She has since held the positions of Global Head of Research and Strategic Planning (RSP) and Co-Head, Asia Ex China Investment Group. While serving as Global Head, RSP, her remit ranged from property research to management of the design, composition, and risk framework for the global real estate portfolio. As Co-Head of Asia Ex China, she oversaw pan-Asian investment strategies covering all sectors of direct property, private and public companies, real estate funds, and debt instruments.
Prior to joining GIC, she was an analyst for Catellus Development Corporation, where she focused on industrial, mixed-use, and land development.
Tracy holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of California, Irvine.
Nagadarsan Suresh
Managing Consultant, Guidehouse
Nagadarsan (Naga) is a Managing Consultant at Guidehouse, with 13+ years of international experience spanning Africa, India, and the UK, in strategy, consulting, product management and marketing positions. He currently manages various sustainability projects with a focus on greenhouse gas (GHG) decarbonisation, sustainable finance and nature-positive solutions.
He manages the project ‘Financing towards net-zero buildings’ for Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF). Through this project, he works with financial institutions to measure the climate impact of their mortgages and commercial real estate portfolios, by developing GHG protocol-aligned methodologies and measurement tools.
Naga completed an MBA from University of Oxford, a post-graduate degree in management from IIM Ahmedabad, and has a bachelors degree in computer engineering.
Guidehouse
Guidehouse is a leading global provider of public and commercial sector consultancy, with broad capabilities in management, technology, and risk. Guidehouse brings a variety of capabilities that enable financial portfolio decarbonization and sustainable investment decisions.
Guidehouse runs the global secretariat for the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF). PCAF is a global partnership of financial institutions that work together to develop and implement a harmonized approach to assess and disclose the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with their loans and investments.
Annachiara Torciano
Head of ESG and Communications, Slättö
Annachiara is Head of ESG and Communications at Slättö, a fast-growing Nordic real estate private equity investor. Annachiara is also Executive in Residence at the Stockholm School of Economics ExEd, developing executive programs to help accelerate sustainable business.
Annachiara’s experience includes industrial companies, consumer goods, real estate and private equity. Before joining Slättö, she was EVP and growth lead for the sustainability practice at the global communications agency Prime Weber Shandwick. She worked previously as Director Sustainability and Corporate Affairs at Samsung Electronics Europe and Environment and European Affairs Manager at Electrolux. She started her career in EU public affairs in Brussels.
She holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the London School of Economics and an MBA from the Stockholm School of Economics.
Heleen van Poecke
Founder and CEO, KEY ESG
Heleen van Poecke is Co-Founder and CEO of KEY ESG, a global sustainability software firm that supports 500+ companies on their sustainability data collection and reporting. With a sizeable EU customer portfolio, KEY ESG supports a growing number of its clients on CSRD reporting. Prior to founding KEY ESG, Heleen worked in private equity investing with AlpInvest Partners and Software at Collibra. She holds an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Stéphane Villemain
Head of Sustainable Investment, Ivanhoé Cambridge
Stéphane Villemain is responsible for our sustainable investment strategy, contributing to our portfolio’s resilience in addition to creating positive impact in our communities. In this capacity, his team drives asset decarbonization strategies and manages risks and opportunities arising from environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors for our investments. His mandate also includes the development of social impact and inclusion strategies.
Before joining Ivanhoé Cambridge in 2020, Stéphane was Director, Responsible Investment, at PSP Investments, where he helped define and implement ESG strategies for the private investment portfolio. He was previously Senior Manager, Climate Change and Sustainability Services at Ernst and Young from 2012 to 2016. He also held positions in sustainability advisory for Deloitte and its clients from 2007 until 2012.
Stéphane graduated (MEng) from École Polytechnique (Paris) and École Nationale du Génie Rural des Eaux et Forêts (AgroParisTech) and holds a master’s degree in civil and environmental engineering from McGill University. He is also a board member of the GRESB Foundation.
Derk Welling
Senior Portfolio Manager Responsible Investment, APG Asset Management
Derk Welling is Senior Portfolio Manager Responsible Investment and member of the Global MT Real Estate at APG Asset Management. In this role he is responsible for ESG integration in the global real estate investments. He is a member of the CRREM Steering Committee and Investor Committee, PRI Real Estate Advisory Committee and the SBTi Expert Advisory Group. Until January 2021 also a member of the INREV ESG Committee. He was the initiator and co-founder of the Dutch Green Building Council, aiming to adapt BREEAM to the Netherlands.
Before joining APG Asset Management Derk served for 10 years as Head of Sustainability at REDEVCO, a private retail real estate investment manager. He was member and co-chair of the ICSC Sustainability committee in Europe. He also worked for a large Dutch international construction firm, where he set up the corporate purchasing department and was a consultant with PwC, focusing on procurement in construction.
Derk studied Civil Engineering at the Delft University of Technology and holds a PhD in Management Science from the University of Groningen. In 2014 he completed the Oxford Impact Investing program, as well as the Impact Investing program at the Duisenberg School of Finance. He participated in various leadership development programs at IMD Lausanne and holds a MSc in investment management (RBA / CEFA) from the VU University Amsterdam.