Rutger van der Lubbe, head of global real estate investment strategy at APG Asset Management, sat down for a video interview at Nareit’s REITWeek: 2024 investor conference, held June 3-6 in New York.
During the interview, van der Lubbe emphasized APG’s proactive stance on climate risk in the real estate sector. APG conducts extensive research on climate risk, differentiating between transition risks, such as regulatory changes, and physical climate risks, such as climate hazards affecting building locations.
Van der Lubbe highlighted that transition risk is already evident through new regulations requiring improvements in energy and carbon efficiency in buildings. APG has played a key role in developing measures such as carbon risk regulations to monitor the efficiency of buildings and align with the Paris Agreement.
He explained that APG’s engagement strategy is not very different between REIT and private real estate investments. They maintain a constant dialogue and engagement with investee entities to drive change, particularly focusing on ESG matters. This approach includes individual engagement and broad market engagement through collaborations such as the Global Engagement Net (GREEN) initiative.
Key metrics for evaluating REIT sustainability risks include energy and carbon intensity. Van der Lubbe underscored the importance of asset-level certification, not just for the certification itself but for access to key data points. “Having access to those data points puts us in a position to quantify transition risk, assess it, and ultimately identify what potential improvements are needed.”
