CREFC’s Sustainability Initiative
November 15, 2021
In February 2021, CREFC launched its Sustainability Initiative (SI), immediately attracting over 120 members. This Initiative has benefited from terrific industry engagement over the past year, including invaluable guidance from its Steering Committee. Moving forward, the CREFC Policy and Capital Markets Briefing will include updates from the SI. In this issue, we provide a brief overview of the SI’s Mission Statement, the work of its three subcommittees, and the resource portal. If you could like to join the SI, please contact Sburki@crefc.org.
- Mission Statement: Align the objectives of the CREF industry with the challenges and opportunities of environmental, social, and corporate sustainability. Provide robust educational resources; promote transparency by encouraging relevant standards and best practices; and foster creative financing solutions that enhance both the public good and the liquidity of the CREF market.
- Subcommittee Activity:
- The Education Subcommittee has hosted nearly 20 presentations and webinars on climate science, engineering reports on climate resiliency, and financial topics such as existing disclosure frameworks and green renovation financing.
- The Transparency Subcommittee is identifying, for eventual inclusion into the Investor Reporting Package™ (IRP™), climate data that are both attainable and relevant for market participants. The subcommittee has coalesced around a few key categories of disclosure and, as incorporation into the IRP™ goes through technical review processes, will produce a Best Practices document early next year.
- The Advocacy Subcommittee is monitoring relevant legislative and regulatory developments, including responding to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC’s) RFI on climate disclosures. The subcommittee’s recommendations have also been shared via meetings with SEC commissioners.
The
CREFC Sustainability Resource Site includes a substantial amount of information related to the SI and related topics:
- Document Library
- Subcommittee/membership information
- Presentations
- News
- Upcoming Events
- “Spotlight” articles