Corporate tenants not ready for climate threats

The real estate industry must play an important role in reversing the negative trend for the climate and the environment, according to the Environmental Outlook 2020 report prepared by the team of EMEA Research & Insight Cushman & Wakefield analysts.

"In Europe, we have identified over 1,500 different types of regulations on mitigating the effects of climate change, of which 74 percent are associated with the implementation of key European Union directives in this area ... Improving the energy efficiency of buildings is one of the main goals of all regulations," Grzegorz Dąbrowski, Property Manager, Assessor BREEAM IN-USE from the Property Management Department at Cushman & Wakefield, said.

Before investors decide to create a specific market segment, they are waiting for confirmation of the strong demand for "green" real estate by tenants. There is still no evidence that corporate tenants are willing to pay higher or high rent for this type of asset. Market players, however, are far from understanding climate threats enough to capture them now in their prices.

"It's like with electric cars or organic vegetables - people want them, they know they should have them, but they are not necessarily ready to pay for them," Grzegorz Dyląg, Director in the Real Estate Management Department, Business Space, Cushman & Wakefield, added.

(WBJ)