Key Takeaways
- • Blackstone, Starwood Capital, and Greystar received failing (F) grades in ShareAction's climate assessment of 16 global real estate investment managers, with nine of 16 managers achieving less than half of 12 key decarbonization standards.
- • Denmark-based Nrep was the only manager to achieve a perfect score by meeting all 12 standards and received an A grade; Savills Investment Management, Patrizia, Heimstaden, and Prologis earned B grades.
- • Brookfield Asset Management and Partners Group received E grades, indicating significant climate action deficiencies among some of the industry's largest operators.
- • The 16 assessed managers control combined real estate assets under management exceeding $1 trillion, making their climate performance critical given that real estate accounts for more than one-third of global annual carbon emissions.
- • Nine of the 16 managers have failed to publicly disclose even a net-zero commitment as of 2025, raising investor concerns about climate risk disclosure and decarbonization strategy in a year following record global temperatures.
Summary
ShareAction, a UK-based nonprofit investor advisory organization, released a damaging climate assessment Wednesday evaluating 16 of the world's largest real estate investment managers against 12 key standards for carbon emissions reduction and climate action. The report, titled "Built to Last?", assigned letter grades to the managers and found widespread underperformance among industry giants. Blackstone, Starwood Capital, and Greystar—among the most influential names in real estate fund management—each received F grades, signaling a failure to meet basic climate commitments.
The assessment reveals structural deficiencies in climate governance across the sector. Of the 16 managers evaluated, nine achieved less than half the required standards, indicating that climate action remains insufficiently embedded in investment strategies despite mounting climate risks. Notably, Aidan Shilson-Thomas, ShareAction's research manager of climate change, highlighted that several major investment managers have not publicly disclosed net-zero commitments even in 2025, a year marked by record global temperatures. This absence of public commitment is particularly concerning given the sector's outsized carbon footprint and the visibility expected from billion-dollar asset managers.
The performance tier demonstrates stark contrasts in climate leadership. Nrep, the sole outlier, achieved all 12 standards and received an A grade, establishing a benchmark for what climate compliance is operationally possible. Brookfield Asset Management and Partners Group fell into an E grade category, while Savills Investment Management, Patrizia, Heimstaden, and Prologis occupied middle ground with B grades. The 16 managers assessed collectively oversee real estate assets exceeding $1 trillion, underscoring the material significance of their climate performance on global emissions trajectories.
The findings align with Bisnow's independent investigation spanning 2023-2024, which concluded that nearly half of the world's 75 largest REITs, real estate fund managers, and direct property owners lacked any plan to reduce carbon emissions. Real estate's outsized environmental impact—representing more than one-third of global annual carbon emissions—amplifies the urgency of these accountability gaps. While ShareAction emphasized that its 16-manager sample was not intended as statistically representative, the concentration of major capital and brand influence within this cohort means that their climate action deficiencies carry meaningful market and policy implications for institutional investors evaluating climate risk exposure.
The assessment reveals structural deficiencies in climate governance across the sector. Of the 16 managers evaluated, nine achieved less than half the required standards, indicating that climate action remains insufficiently embedded in investment strategies despite mounting climate risks. Notably, Aidan Shilson-Thomas, ShareAction's research manager of climate change, highlighted that several major investment managers have not publicly disclosed net-zero commitments even in 2025, a year marked by record global temperatures. This absence of public commitment is particularly concerning given the sector's outsized carbon footprint and the visibility expected from billion-dollar asset managers.
The performance tier demonstrates stark contrasts in climate leadership. Nrep, the sole outlier, achieved all 12 standards and received an A grade, establishing a benchmark for what climate compliance is operationally possible. Brookfield Asset Management and Partners Group fell into an E grade category, while Savills Investment Management, Patrizia, Heimstaden, and Prologis occupied middle ground with B grades. The 16 managers assessed collectively oversee real estate assets exceeding $1 trillion, underscoring the material significance of their climate performance on global emissions trajectories.
The findings align with Bisnow's independent investigation spanning 2023-2024, which concluded that nearly half of the world's 75 largest REITs, real estate fund managers, and direct property owners lacked any plan to reduce carbon emissions. Real estate's outsized environmental impact—representing more than one-third of global annual carbon emissions—amplifies the urgency of these accountability gaps. While ShareAction emphasized that its 16-manager sample was not intended as statistically representative, the concentration of major capital and brand influence within this cohort means that their climate action deficiencies carry meaningful market and policy implications for institutional investors evaluating climate risk exposure.
Go deeper than the headline
Research every firm in this story, track the ones that matter and get the daily briefing — free for 7 days.